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VOLUME 19 ISSUE 9 SEPT 2021

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WHY INDIA NEEDS TO REFOCUS ON HOW DIFFERENT WE ARE

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

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

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

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There may be a few fake elements in this video. That is not the point at all. The point here is that, as those who drive on Indian roads, all of us have seen such totally careless behaviour. That realization is enough. Also, ducks and cats in India too may cross roads safely. But the relevant point here is that the kind of ordered public behaviour of people and traffic in developed countries may be rubbing off a bit on the animals & birds there!

But the video is more thought provoking for an entirely different issue. This year, India is celebrating the 30th anniversary of economic liberalization. There is not an iota of doubt that liberalization was the most pressing reform India needed. If anyone doubts that, it would be educative to read a recent interview of NR Narayan Murthy, which shows how it was like to do business in India pre liberalization and post liberalization.

Most cofounders of Murthy wanted to cash out, but he encouraged them to hold on, and then came liberalization, which changed the whole context. As he notes in the interview, the enlarged context changed the aspirations. Today, that Rs. 2 crore firm holds a market capitalization of Rs. 6.5 lakh crore.

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

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

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

Hence, there are no doubts whatsoever regarding liberalization. But has liberalization succeeded in ending India’s poverty, even after 30 years and different ruling parties and leaders? Absolutely not. India continues to have the largest poor population in the world. The reason is simple enough to understand.

It is that we are different. Very different in fact, from most countries, even our nearest neighbours like China, Pakistan, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka.

Economic liberalization failed to achieve its full potential because it was a very

India’s family bonding, compassion and selflessness, which is really a reflection of how we are also guided by a spiritual mind-set.

Western idea, which India could adopt blindly for some spectacular gains, but which we could not adapt intelligently to suit our realities, which is all about how different we are.

And how different are we?

To start with, India has always been an agrarian economy, with more than 50% of the population depending upon agriculture for their livelihood, for most of our history.

Unfortunately, market economics that got unleashed by liberalization always runs contrary to the needs and aspirations of such populations.

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

Thirdly, India is a very diverse population, unlike no other on the planet. The 28 states in India talk 28 different languages or dialects, and have their own unique culture.

Still another uniqueness is that even after decades of organized efforts in delivering free primary education, around 25% of Indians are illiterate.

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

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

This is not a bad thing either. The breakup of extended families in the developed nations, has inevitably led to the breakup of even nuclear families there in recent decades, driving up single parenting and dragging down birth rates even beyond sustainable levels. In sharp contrast stands

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

That is why Gandhi always exhorted his colleagues to base decisions and reforms only on one checkpoint – how it will affect the poorest of the poor Indians? Will it help them come up in life or will it pull them further down, beyond economic redemption? Gandhi’s ideas like “the soul of India lives in her villages” gradually became unpopular, with mass migrations to cities, in search of employment. This has resulted in not only unsustainable cities, but the creation of a new class of urban poor who is worse off than the rural poor.

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

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

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

John Antony SEASONAL MAGAZINE

CONTENTS

BEST UNIVERSITIES TO OPT FOR IN A DIFFICULT ACADEMIC YEAR

There hasn’t been an academic year like 2021-22 in modern Indian history. A year in which, even the crucial qualifying examination of plus-two had to be scrapped due to the raging pandemic. While the Government, Courts & educationalists are trying to find the perfect formula to reach a consensus way to award plus-two marks without exams, students and parents are getting bogged down in endless confusions – where to apply for, what to apply for, when to apply for, which test to appear for, will we lose seat, will we lose money, will we lose a whole year, and what not! Seasonal Magazine, based on our decades of experience in covering the higher education sector, is strongly advocating parents &

THE CORPORATE LITMUS TEST

QUARTERLY & ANNUAL RESULTS

INDIA’S MINISTERS ON MISSION MODE

On one hand, food inflation is on the rise and on the other, commodityprices linked inflation is leading to an increase in raw material costs. A combination such as this could effectively impact the topline in Q3.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

With 36 new faces, retention of all the heavyweight talents and promotions to 7 existing ministers, it is the widest overhaul of PM Narendra Modi's cabinet. What would be the missions assigned to each?

As the final batches of Q4 results roll in, one thing is evident – FY’21 is going down in the history of India Inc as the year of the makeor-break litmus test. Because, this was the year that bore the whole brunt of the pandemic’s first wave, and gave ultimatum to companies

LIC SHOWS UNIQUE CAPABILITY IN THE RUN UP TO MEGA IPO A pandemic of Covid-19 scale leaves no business untouched. And a ‘Second Wave’ like how it happened in India, starting from March-April

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

DELHI APPROVES SALARY HIKE FOR MLAS TO RS 90,000 PER MONTH

POONAWALLA DONATES RS10 CRORE FOR INDIAN STUDENTS TRAVELLING ABROAD AMID COVID short by Pragya Swastik / 02:26 pm on 05 Aug 2021,Thursday Serum Institute of India's CEO Adar Poonawalla on Thursday in a tweet said that he has set aside ?10 crore for quarantine costs of Indian students travelling abroad amid COVID-19. "Dear students travelling abroad, as a few countries are yet to approve Covishield as an acceptable vaccine for travel without quarantine, you may have to incur some costs," he tweeted.

CHIEF MINISTER ARVIND KEJRIWAL-LED CABINET APPROVED THE CENTRE’S PROPOSED SALARY FOR MLAS, EVEN AS THE GOVERNMENT SAID DELHI’S MLAS WILL CONTINUE TO BE AMONG THE LOWEST-PAID MLAS ACROSS INDIA. any states provide many other perks and allowances to their MLAs like House Rent, Office Rent, Staff and Vehicle Allowances that the Delhi government does not.

The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved salary hike for MLAs as per the Centre’s proposal, raising the pay to Rs 30,000 from Rs 12,000 per month, a day after the Centre rejected a plan to raise salaries of MLAs at par with other state legislatures.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led cabinet approved the Centre’s proposed salary for MLAs, even as the government said Delhi’s MLAs will continue to be among the lowest-paid MLAs across India. The salary of Delhi’s MLAs hasn’t increased since 10 years. The Kejriwal government had requested the MHA that their salary and allowances be at par with MLAs of other states. Sources said BJP and Congress-ruled states are currently paying 1.5-2 times higher salaries and allowances to MLAs. Many states provide many other perks and allowances to their MLAs like House SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Rent, Office Rent, Staff and Vehicle Allowances that the Delhi government does not. In December 2015, the AAP government had got a Bill passed in the Delhi assembly raising emoluments of MLAs to Rs 2.10 lakh a month. The Bill, however, became null and void as prior permission was not taken from authorities concerned before tabling it in the assembly, they said “The Centre restricted increase in salary of MLAs in Delhi to Rs 30,000; Delhi’s MLAs will continue to be among the lowest paid MLAs in India," a source in the government claimed.

Currently, a Delhi MLA gets Rs 53,000 a month. This includes Rs 12,000 as salary, and the rest are allowances. Besides, they get Rs 30,000 a month for paying two staff members whome they can hire, the sources said. “They can get a revised salary of Rs 30,000 and Rs 60,000 as allowances, totalling Rs 90,000 per month," the source said.

The breakup of revised salary and allowances is basic salary Rs 30,000, constituency allowance, Rs 25,000, secretarial allowance Rs 15,000, telephone allowance Rs 10,000, and conveyance allowance.

COVAXIN GETS CERTIFICATE OF GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICE FROM HUNGARY Bharat Biotech's Covaxin has received a certificate of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliance from Hungarian authorities. "This marks the 1st EUDRAGDMP compliance certificate received by Bharat Biotech from European regulatories," the company tweeted. Bharat Biotech said it plans to submit documentation for emergency use authorisation to several other countries worldwide.

ECONOMY

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

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

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

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

The union government has so far resisted

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

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It’s not difficult to see why.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Remya Nair for The Print) SEASONAL MAGAZINE

ON ONE HAND, FOOD INFLATION IS ON THE RISE AND ON THE OTHER, COMMODITY-PRICES LINKED INFLATION IS LEADING TO AN INCREASE IN RAW MATERIAL COSTS. A COMBINATION SUCH AS THIS COULD EFFECTIVELY IMPACT THE TOPLINE IN Q3.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

If

you are beginning to notice that the prices of household goods like rice, cooking oil, television - even replacement tyres for vehicles - are seeing a steep rise, it is not an exception.

It’s pretty much the rule.

With the steady rise in consumer inflation across sectors, companies which were holding on to the cost hits are slowly passing it on to customers.

The Consumer Price Index-based inflation (CPI) for the month of May came in at 6.30 percent, much higher than April's 4.23 percent, and outside the Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) inflation targeting range of 4 (+/-2) percent for the first time since November 2020.

The higher inflation month-on-month (MoM) was primarily at the back of a substantial hardening of food prices.

According to the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), food inflation was 5.01 percent in May compared to 1.96 percent in April, official data showed.

On one hand, food inflation is on the rise while on the other, commodityprices linked inflation is leading to an increase in raw material costs.

The impact? A price rise across customerfacing sectors like FMCG (fast moving consumer goods), white goods and automobiles.

The increase ranges from 2-5 percent for FMCG products to 10-12 percent for appliances.

Among the worst hit categories due to the inflation pinch is the consumer durables/appliances sector.

Due to state lockdowns across India to contain the COVID-19 spread, sale of non-essential items, including consumer durables, had been temporarily suspended in April and May, while commodity prices continued to surge.

Appliance makers had already increased prices in February due to shortage of key components and rise in metal prices globally. Now, sales too have been hit due to lockdown-like restrictions across the country.

Categories like televisions and air conditioners are among the worst affected, with the rise in component prices and added import duties.

Neeraj Bahl, MD & CEO, BSH Home Appliances, says that anticipating that the Second Wave of COVID-19 was going to hit the industry badly, the company ramped up production in the first quarter itself. It is now helping them tide through the Second Wave smoothly - up till now.

"Currently our focus area is the premium segment rather than mass segment.

Prices of almost everything have shot up; especially freight charges have been hit the worst. They have increased by 1214 percent above the normal rates.

Spears and component costs are all up, but this increase of cost cannot be passed on to consumers as prices would go up by at least 25 percent," he adds.

However, Bahl points out that while the company will have to take some impact; the rest will be passed on to customers in a phased manner.

According to the India Strategy Report of Motilal Oswal Financial Service, global commodity prices have seen a surge in 2021 with the CoreCommodity CRB Index rising 70 percent on a yearon-year (YoY) basis in April 2021.

Gurmeet Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, Johnson ControlsHitachi Air Conditioning India, believes that inflation has, undoubtedly, put added pressure on businesses, which has been further amplified by the lockdowns during the pandemic.

"Usually price appreciation in the electronic appliance market is

CONSUMER-FACING SECTORS ARE ON TENTERHOOKS WITH THE INFLATION BLUES CONTINUING. UNLESS RAW MATERIAL AND COMMODITY PRICES STABILIZE, BUYERS WILL CONTINUE TO FACE THE PRICE PINCH.

implemented during the first quarter of the calendar year. But before this could be realised properly, another wave of COVID-19 hit the country and hampered the season sales, especially the air conditioner market. Most electronic appliance brands have had to increase their prices by 3-7 percent. This unprecedented crisis has put brands through a tough test and pricing strategies have to be carefully formulated to sustain operations," he states.

Singh adds that at Hitachi Cooling & Heating India, they have increased the price of air conditioners by 3-4 percent since the month of February.

Despite this, his company’s performance was better than 2020 in the first five months of the calendar year, he points out.

In total, a 12-13 percent hike in appliance prices was undertaken against the 20-21 percent hike in commodity prices, says Kamal Nandi, Business Head and Executive Vice President, Godrej Appliances.

According to him, as the raw material prices hardened, its cumulative impact was felt in Q4 of FY21.

Also, material shortages were reported in conjunction with the rise in raw material prices, particularly in the case of resins, steel, aluminum wires, glass, paper and chemicals, among others.

Freight charges are also on the rise.

Nandi says that shipping container freight rates soared by three times amid the export boom and container shortages, along with an 8-9 percent increase in domestic freight rates.

The commodity and logistics cost inflation had a severe impact on the input costs.

"Commodity prices are expected to soften in the second half of this year, according to our forecast. To boost demand, brands are not implementing any price hikes this month. However, if the commodity prices continue to show an upward trend, brands will be bound to partially offset the increase by implementing market price corrections," adds Nandi.

Typically, consumer durables firms effect price rises only at the beginning of the SEASONAL MAGAZINE

calendar year. However, 2021 was in stark contrast, with price rise being implemented multiple times.

B Thiagarajan, Managing Director, Blue Star told that there was a slowing down in room ACs and commercial refrigeration sales from the third week of April, though it was not a washout like the summer of 2020.

THE INCREASE RANGES FROM 2-5 PERCENT FOR FMCG PRODUCTS TO 10-12 PERCENT FOR APPLIANCES.

"We had to increase prices by 7-8 percent. In April, there was another price rise by 3-5 percent," he points out.

At present, bringing in a finished product is expensive since the government has imposed a 20 percent import duty on completely built units (CBUs) that are brought in from other countries.

With import being ruled out as a temporary option to mitigate the dearth of products in the market, price rise is the only option left.

Inflation in commodities such as palm oil and copra have led to a price hike by the fast moving consumer goods companies, leading to buyers shelling out considerably more out of their pockets on daily essentials.

For instance, palm oil, a key ingredient for making soaps and other personal care products, have witnessed a 30-40 percent price jump in the last six months.

And hence, companies have hiked soap prices by 7-18 percent in the last one year.

“Increase in commodity prices, especially that of palm oil and crude

derivatives has witnessed steady rise over the last six months, which has necessitated price hike by FMCG manufacturers in the soap and detergent segment,” explains Shamsher Dewan, Vice President & Group Head Corporate Ratings, ICRA Limited.

According to experts, the logistics cost has also increased in the backdrop of a rise in diesel prices.

Over the last one year, the consumption pattern has undergone a change, but the demand for essential products has not suffered in spite of the inflation.

Points out Amit Sharma, Co-Founder and CEO of online business-to-business (B2B) platform ShopX: “Despite the price hike, the sale of these products has seen a

growth. However, as consumers are spending more on essentials, the spending on non-essentials has gone down.”

Says Tarun Garg, director (sales and marketing), Hyundai Motor India: "There is always the pricing pressure on us. We have a cost cutting effort underway, which manages the surge in costs. We are holding prices for now and we will see how the situation unfolds later."

Michelin in the Africa India and the Middle East region will push up its tyre prices by up to 6 percent on passenger car, light truck and motorcycle replacement tyres as well as up to 8 percent on both on- and off-road commercial tyres due to increase of raw material cost, global transportation costs and the prevailing market dynamics.

This increase was effective from June 18 for India.

Truckers say prices of tyres have gone up by 6-8 percent since the June 1 hike in diesel rates, which rose from Rs 85.01 to Rs 87.5.

Likewise, truck rentals have shot up by 9-14 percent since June 1, post the lifting of the lockdown and hike in tyre prices, according to data shared by the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT).

It is not just CPI inflation that is on the rise. The data for Wholesale Price Indexbased inflation showed that WPI inflation touched 12.94 percent in May, the highest on record.

This was due to the constant rise in the cost of fuel, including petrol, LPG and high-speed diesel, which percolated down into the economy and a low base effect.

Consumer-facing sectors are on tenterhooks with the inflation blues continuing. Unless raw material and commodity prices stabilize, buyers will continue to face the price pinch.

With the onset of the festive season just eight weeks away, price hikes could play dampener for consumer demand effectively impacting the topline in Q3.

(By M Saraswathy, Devika Singh & Swaraj Baggonkar for Moneycontrol) SEASONAL MAGAZINE

HERO GROUP’S HERO VIRED OFFERS PG PROGRAMMES IN COLLABORATION WITH MIT Hero Group's professional education venture Hero Vired is now accepting admissions to their post-graduate programmes Data Science, Machine Learning & AI, and Finance & Financial Technologies. In collaboration with MIT, the programmes seek to offer right tools to transform the future. Hero Vired aims to transform the industry from within by giving students a world-class online learning experience.

WE'RE ALL SO PROUD OF YOU: ABHISHEK AS LOVLINA WINS BRONZE AT OLYMPICS Bollywood celebrities took to social media to congratulate India's 23-yearold boxer Lovlina Borgohain on winning a bronze medal at the ongoing Olympics in Tokyo. "Congratulations Lovlina on bringing home bronze medal at your debut Olympics! We're all so proud of you," Abhishek Bachchan tweeted.

Meanwhile, Randeep Hooda wrote, "Super achievement #Lovlina...the whole country is proud of you."

DOG MADE FEROCIOUS BY CIRCUMSTANCES, STRAY DOGS NOT DANGEROUS BY NATURE: HC

84-YR-OLD GERMAN PENSIONER FINED $300,000 OVER WWII TANK, CANNON AT HIS HOUSE

The Kerala High Court has observed, "A dog is made ferocious by the circumstances and it's a myth that a stray canine is dangerous by nature." It said this while dealing with the issue of poisoning street dogs in the Thrikkakara municipality area. The bench also said that killing or maiming street dogs wasn't the way to make people safer.

An 84-year-old German pensioner has been convicted of illegal weapons possession after a World War II tank and a flak cannon were found at his house in a 2015 raid. The pensioner has been handed a suspended prison sentence of 14 months and has been ordered to pay a fine of $300,000. The army had to help remove the items.

MICROSOFT TO REQUIRE VACCINATION PROOF FROM EMPLOYEES IN US

THE SOULED STORE RAISES RS 75 CRORE IN SERIES B FUNDING

Microsoft employees have been informed that anyone entering a Microsoft building in the US would be required to show proof of vaccination, starting September.

Employees who have a medical condition or a protected reason that prevents them from getting vaccinated could reportedly get a special accommodation. Microsoft will not fully reopen work sites until October 4 at the earliest

The Souled Store has raised Rs 75 crore in Series B funding round led by Elevation Capital. The round also saw participation from angel investors like Delhivery Co-founder Sahil Barua, ZALORA CEO Gunjan Soni, Livspace Founder Ramakant Sharma, and Urban Ladder Founder Ashish Goel. The Mumbai-based startup was founded in 2013 by Vedang Patel, Aditya Sharma, Rohin Samtaney and Harsh Lal.

2 MEN LURE ANDHRA GIRL TO UP, PUSH HER INTO DAM AFTER LOOTING HER; HELD Police arrested two persons for allegedly luring a girl from Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada to Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur and pushing her into Hathnikund Barrage after looting her jewellery and cash. One of the accused is a resident of Sangam Vihar in Saharanpur and the other is from Manakmau. The family members of the girl had filed a missing report in Vijayawada.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prof. R Prasad, Director, Academic Wing Surana, MD, Bhagyanagar India Ltd; Anu Acharya, CEO, Mapmygenome; Dr. Ambi Parameswaran, Founder-Brand Building.com; Ninad Karpe, Partner at 100X.VC; Vivek Kaul, Author of The Big Bad World of Bad Money are some of the distinguished speakers to have shared their insights and thoughts among many others. Some of the past webinars have covered topics ranging from entrepreneurship, healthcare innovation, challenges in employment, emerging business models, communication strategies for working professionals and leadership lessons among others. The webinars are especially a rich source of insights on every topic of interest to an aspiring entrepreneur to executive managers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Interview with Prof. R Prasad, Director, Academic Wing

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

institutes?

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

The program is designed keeping their learning needs in mind.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

mapping the learner profile, SWOT and expectations.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So we have micro and nano cases.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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WHAT MAKES

JSSAHER A TOP CHOICE THIS YEAR

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dmissions are now open for most courses at JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research (JSSAHER), Mysuru, which is a leading deemedto-be-university as well as in their constituent colleges like JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty.

These include diverse graduate, post graduate, diploma and research courses in medicine, health sciences & allied fields. In this uniquely challenging academic year, well established universities like JSSAHER are the better choices, because, instead of getting bogged down by the pandemic, JSSAHER has only grown stronger since 2020. JSS Hospital has been one of the 17 prestigious institutions in India which were selected by ICMR for undertaking Oxford University's Covishield clinical trial and later was made a trial site for the Russian made Sputnik V vaccine too. Despite the pandemic, the university continued its focus on Faculty Development Programs, Entrepreneurship Development Programs, creation and upgradation of specialized infrastructure, and creation of new sunrise sector courses. JSSAHER is breaking new ground in attracting high-quality students for graduate, postgraduate and research programs due to its distinct edges in updated and interdisciplinary curricula, meaningful research, better student-to-faculty ratio, global mobility of its students, and better infrastructure & facilities. No wonder then that JSSAHER has moved up one more notch in this year’s NIRF rankings, and is now the 33rd top-ranked university from 1667 universities in India. The primarily health sciences oriented university is led by accomplished academicians like Dr. B Suresh as Pro Chancellor, Dr. Surinder Singh as Vice Chancellor and Dr. Manjunatha B as

Registrar. Dr. B. Suresh, M.Pharm., Ph.D., D.Sc., is a renowned leader in medical and pharmacy education, and has been the President of Pharmacy Council of India for multiple terms.

An internationally acknowledged expert in this field, Dr. Suresh is also the Chairman, Scientific Body, of Indian Pharmacopoeial Commission.

Dr. Surinder Singh, MBBS, MD Microbiology, a renowned expert in biopharmaceuticals and vaccines, has been formerly Drugs Control General (India), Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), New Delhi, and Director, National Institute of Biologicals (NIB), Government of India. JSSAHER is also a leading institution in India and abroad for pharmacy studies. In the 2021 QS World University Rankings by Subject, JSSAHER was ranked among the top 5 higher education institutions in India under the subject ‘Pharmacy & Pharmacology’. Among the 1,453 institutions ranked across the world by QS, JSSAHER was ranked in the 201-250 rank band for the first time under this same subject. This prestigious achievement was announced by Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Union Minister of Education through a virtual event. These subjectwise rankings were based on criteria like Academic & Employers Reputation, Publications, Citations and H-Index etc., and reflects the quality and standard of education and research provided by JSSAHER. The deemed university

by JSS Mahavidyapeetha, also fared well in other subjects like Life Sciences, Medicine and Dentistry. Choosing such stable and high faring universities take out much ambiguity which is reigning now in this academic year.

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HOW SATHYABAMA

MOVES AHEAD,

UNFAZED BY THE

PANDEMIC ISSUES

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

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

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Admissions to various courses are now open at Sathyabama Institute of Science & Technology, a leading deemed-to-be university, based in Chennai. These include graduate, post graduate and research courses in engineering, architecture, management, arts & science, law, dental, pharmacy & nursing. To avoid further confusions in this difficult academic year, Sathyabama management led by Dr. Mariazeena Johnson has decided that there won’t be any entrance examinations for this year’s admissions.

Instead, the deemed university will rely on plus-two marks, and to ensure greater fair play, transparency & meritocracy, will also give adequate weightage to JEE main scores.

Choosing a well-established university like Sathyabama is important for

Dr. MARIAZEENA JOHNSON Chancellor

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

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

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

The university also fares well in campus placements with over 90% of students getting placed each year. More than 350 companies recruit from Sathyabama campus now, and the latest round saw 1822 offers. The university classifies its recruiters as Dream Recruiters and Super Dream Recruiters, and as of now there are 100 plus companies in the Dream

Dr. MARIE JOHNSON President

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

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

Impressively, apart from students in the engineering stream, placements are also bagged by students in architecture, dental, management, arts and science streams. Companies that have recruited from Sathyabama include Amazon, ADP, Oracle. Cognizant, Wipro, Human Resocia, Capgemini, Hexaware, Verizon, Pulse Healthcare, LTI, Hitachi, Renault Nissan, DXC, Bonfigioli, Bajaj Auto, Godrej, TCS, NTT Data and many more such names.

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

In tune with the times, Sathyabama is also highly active in the startup domain.

Over 18 student startups have been incubated at Sathyabama campuses so far. These startups have been partially funded by Sathyabama and spans products & solutions in technology, healthcare, defence, transportation,

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

Sathyabama University has effectively tackled this challenge through various measures like industrial collaboration and certification programs. The deemed university has tied up with industry majors including Infosys, Cognizant, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini, Accenture, and more such companies to remain abreast of the latest trends in the industry and thus update their curricula whenever necessary. farming, drones, waste water treatment, automotive, shielding materials, wearables for Covid patients, seaweed based cosmetics, shrimp supplements, e-waste management, air detoxifiers and more. The university is also highly active in the research field, especially in applied research, with more than 500 patents filed, over 100 patents published, over 90 patents granted and 10 patents having successfully undergone technology transfer.

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

Sathyabama is home to a Technology Business Incubator (TBI), set up in assistance with National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), a nodal body coming under Government of India’s Department of Science & Technology (DST). This TBI follows best practices by which all student

proposals for a startup are scrutinized by an expert committee, followed by presentation of the shortlisted proposals.

These future entrepreneurs are also trained to share their concept in five minutes to potential investors, partners and customers. The TBI at Sathyabama provides free incubation support to potential startups and helps them to accelerate towards angel investors.

There is also an active Entrepreneurship Development Club working in the campus that conducts workshops regarding various steps in starting a business. Such workshops are led by leaders from the industry, especially from the startup world.

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

Sathyabama is also a leader in delivering certification programs in emerging domains and delivers around two dozen such courses in areas like Cloud Computing, Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), Data Science & Big Data, App Development, Embedded Systems & Robotics, Cyber Security & Forensics, Aircraft & Ground Maintenance etc.

Sathyabama is one of the handful of deemed universities to have obtained approval for starting new vocational degrees BVoc and MVoc in domains like software development, hardware & networking, web technologies etc.

Sathyabama has emerged as a strong player in research programs, having undertaken research work for various central government organizations and has proved it mettle in entrepreneurial class projects by creating its own satellite that was launched by ISRO making it the first university to achieve that feat, a few years back. Sathyabama has significant initiatives in both applied and basic research. During the last five years, faculty and researchers at Sathyabama has been undertaking SEASONAL MAGAZINE

research for various government agencies with supporting grants.

These organizations include cuttingedge organizations like Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Department of Science & Technology (DST), National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL), Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS), National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE), Board Of Research In Nuclear Sciences (BRNS), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), among many such organizations. Sathyabama has also launched a next generation laboratory in the campus, which will further boost research facilities in the university.

Sathyabama is structured as 10 broad schools, including 5 in engineering and one each for business, law, science/humanities, pharmacy, & dental. Sathyabama’s engineering schools are School of Computing, School of Electrical & Electronics, School of Mechanical, School of Bio & Chemical, and School of Building & Environment. However, these five broad schools deliver 15 engineering degrees including in emerging areas like Mechatronics at the graduate level, while at the post graduate level there are 12 courses including in latest domains like Internet of Things (IoT), Medical Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence etc.

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

domains. Combining these with Sathyabama’s School of Management and School of Law, there is clearly the potential for interdisciplinary work, and students stand to distinctly benefit from this breadth of courses.

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

Sathyabama had rapidly deployed an impressive digital infrastructure as soon as the first wave began and this has resulted in ongoing academic delivery with not much disruption. The

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

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

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

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

Science labs are also comprehensive, including biochemistry lab and plant cell and tissue culture lab. The internet infrastructure is also impressive with a dedicated Internet Leased line of 155 Mbps and a redundancy link of 100 Mbps, connected to all the

especially so during the last few years.

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

terminals throughout the campus.

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

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

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

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

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KIIT Deemed-to-be University

WHAT MAKES

KIIT A TOP CHOICE THIS YEAR S

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

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

Prof. Achyuta Samanta Founder, KIIT & KISS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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SRM GROUP OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

WHAT MAKES SRM A TOP CHOICE THIS YEAR ne of the pioneers of multi-disciplinary, tertiary education in India, the SRM brand is unsurprisingly a household name. Its main campus, SRM-IST at Kattankulathur, was established in 1985 and the varsity has not looked back ever since. As part of the SRM-IST institutions are four other campuses (Ramapuram, Vadapalani, Ghaziabad, Tiruchirappalli), the last of which got approval to commence its operations from this academic year. This new institute will offer programmes in most of the sought-after disciplines like engineering, science, humanities, allied health sciences, physiotherapy,

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occupational therapy and hotel management, catering science etc. The call to applications for the SRM Joint Entrance Examination (SRM-JEEE), which is to be conducted in two phases, have been announced for admission to the B.Tech courses.

Apart from the SRM-IST institutes, the Group also comprises of specialized constituent colleges for dentistry, pharmacy, physiotherapy, nursing etc.

Easwari Engineering College, TRP Engineering College, Valliammai Engineering College, SRM University (Sonepat), SRM University (Sikkim), SRM University (Amaravati), SRM Arts & Science College are the private universities established in different parts

of the country with a few attaining deemed-to-be-status.

Given to its decades-long service to excellence in higher education, SRM was ranked 2nd place in the Private or Self-Financed universities category of the coveted Atal Rankings of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2020 of the Union government. This is a notable leap for the institution as it finished third place based on 2019 rankings. The QS World Rankings rates the university with ‘4 star’ and is one of the few to be bestowed the QS IGAUGE Diamond rating.

Placements are generally taken as a marker of a student’s RoI for a private university education and SRM has

seldom disappointed in this regard.

Take the example of SRM University-AP, which recently announced 92% placements for its maiden batch of students. The highest CTC reportedly is Rs. 29.5 lakh per annum while the average salary of Rs. 7 lakh per annum is higher than most other institutes.

Some of the key recruiters included Google, Amazon, Adobe, Infosys, HealthRx, Bank of America, Standard Chartered who offered a combined 71% of ‘Super Dream’ and ‘Dream’ pay packages. Speaking of dream offers, two twin brothers - Saptarshi Manjudar and Rajarshi Majumdar – bagged annual salary packages of Rs. 50 lakhs each from Google Japan. SRM-AP Vice Chancellor, Prof VS Rao praised the students who excelled in the placement drive and gave them a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakh each. The twins were especially thankful to the university’s incubation center and placement cell for guiding and motivating them. In the longer term, such whopping salary packages for students are a testament to SRM’s standing in the international job market.

This trend can be noticed across the SRM-IST campuses as well. For instance, SRM-IST (Kattankulathur) witnessed a record placement this season with more than 600 IT & engineering companies offering over 7000+ offers to the outgoing batch. Here, around 2000 Super Dream (Rs.10 lakh or more) and Dream (Rs.5 lakh or more) offers have been made so far with Bengaluru-based WorkIndia Information Technology and Service offering the highest package worth Rs.35 lakh per annum. This is made possible because SRM-IST enables its top students to pursue semester abroad programmes & internships at the likes of Harvard University and other prestigious foreign institutions.

SRM is ahead of the curve when it comes to looking to the future of work. Offering courses like B.Tech. in Mechatronics Engineering (Robotics), MTech Mechatronics Engineering, MTech in Robotics, SRM-IST provides its prospective students with cutting-edge infrastructure and laboratories to develop competencies in the field of robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

This is soon to become the next hiring pool for skills that are at the forefront of

ON THE LATTER, THE SRM INNOVATION AND INCUBATION CENTRE CATERS TO THE NEEDS OF BUDDING START-UPS, THE LIKES OF WHICH INCLUDE SURELOCAL, YOGYA.AI, KREATOR, NEUR AMONG OTHERS. SUPPORTED BY MHRD’S INSTITUTION’S INNOVATION COUNCIL, THE SRMIIC ALSO BOASTS OF ILLUSTRIOUS PARTNERS LIKE TIE CHENNAI, KINGSTON UNIVERSITY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE OF INDIA ETC.

ushering in the Industrial Revolution 4.0 and students can expect to pursue two main career possibilities ie; research and industry. At SRM, both the bachelors and master degrees in the aforementioned discipline are tailored to meet the needs of future jobs in the healthcare, farming, and education sectors. In a recent series of webinars, jointly organized by SRM-IST & The Hindu, R. Senthilnathan, Associate Professor, Department of Mechatronics Engineering, SRMIST emphasized on the importance of his department’s commitment to interdisciplinary and investment in entrepreneurship incubation facilities as key factors to excel in this field.

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On the latter, the SRM Innovation and Incubation Centre caters to the needs of budding start-ups, the likes of which include Surelocal, Yogya.ai, Kreator, Neur among others. Supported by MHRD’s Institution’s Innovation Council, the SRMIIC also boasts of illustrious partners like TiE Chennai, Kingston University, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India etc. At SRM-AP, the Technology Business Incubator (SRMAP-TBI) launched a cohort of 36 business ventures that included guests of honour from industry.

The entrepreneurship-based curriculum has been designed in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley.

SRM-AP & UC Berkeley established the ‘Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship Academy (IDEA)’ combined with assistance from the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Jacob Center of Design and Innovation to ‘foster the culture of innovation, design and entrepreneurship among the students of all streams including engineering, liberal arts and sciences, and management.’ The select 36 start-ups will receive mentoring, seed & innovation fund, networking with industry leaders, market validation and incubation support for a period of 12 months.

With its deep-rooted experience in the

SAPTARSHI MANJUDAR AND RAJARSHI MAJUMDAR – BAGGED ANNUAL SALARY PACKAGES OF RS. 50 LAKHS EACH FROM GOOGLE JAPAN. SRM-AP VICE CHANCELLOR, PROF VS RAO PRAISED THE STUDENTS WHO EXCELLED IN THE PLACEMENT DRIVE AND GAVE THEM A CASH PRIZE OF RS. 2 LAKH EACH.

higher education domain, SRM-IST was able to seamlessly adapt to the COVID19 induced virtual mode of teaching.

Responding to the increasing demand for MOOC & online education, the institute has rolled out UGC-approved programmes in MBA (all fields), MCA, BBA in Digital Marketing, BCA in Data Science etc. Towards this, SRM-IST developed an indigenous cloud-based platform called SRM Online Learning Platform, which supports live interactive sessions and student assessments. With a visionary leadership and high level of adaptability, SRM is undoubtedly surging ahead, in spite of the challenges of remote learning.

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WHAT MAKES

KARUNYA A TOP CHOICE THIS YEAR

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

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

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

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

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WHAT MAKES

SASTRA A TOP CHOICE THIS YEAR

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part from its traditional stronghold of engineering, SASTRA has rapidly emerged as a leading university in management, law, sciences & humanities. Renowned for its outstanding performance in placements year after year, especially in engineering, SASTRA thus becomes one of the most sought-after universities in a pandemic age. The university’s admissions are now open for almost all its graduate, post graduate and doctoral courses.

Admissions are transparent, and to ensure this, the process has been made fully online. Unlike many of its peers, SASTRA has boldly announced that there will be no entrance test for degree programs this year. Instead, the university will rely on plus-two scores for half the seats and for the other half equal weightage will be given for plus two and JEE main scores. The deemed-to-be university excels in translational research, and thus has been playing a noted role in solving real world problems in an age which calls for innovation above all else.

Translational research is especially relied on in medical research, and recently a SASTRA research team had bagged the Indian patent for developing an electrochemical biosensor for the rapid detection of methylglyoxal, a novel biomarker for the early detection of diabetes, in prediabetic stages itself so that effective lifestyle modifications can ward it off. Founded by Prof.

R Sethuraman and headed by Dr. S. Vaidhyasubramaniam as Vice-Chancellor, SASTRA is a Category 1 University as per UGC Graded Autonomy Regulations and accredited by the National Assessment & Accreditation Council (NAAC) with “A++” grade with CGPA: 3.54 /4.00. With its government sponsored Centres of Excellence in

meaningful research, to the global mobility of its students, to its excellence in placements and with its world-class technology business incubator focused on 3D Printing and Internet of Things (IoT), this deemed university in Tamil Nadu is grooming its students to be scientists, technocrats, CEOs, and startup founders, as it has already been demonstrating since the 90s. It is doubtful whether any other comparable private or deemed university has made as much as progress as SASTRA in meaningful research, especially in its core engineering and technology domains.

This is because the university has been built from the ground up, not just for teaching and learning, but for research and consultancy. This has resulted in impressive achievements in the field of applied research and SASTRA getting recognized as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO). And befitting this recognition, SASTRA’s research scholars are engaged in research for various government agencies including Department of Science & Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Defense Research & Development Organization, Indian Council for Medical Research, Council for Scientific & Industrial Research, and AYUSH, among others. The maturity SASTRA has shown in such work has encouraged Government of India to set up even a few Centres of Excellence in the campus. One of the world’s most renowned accreditation bodies in engineering is the venerable UK based professional organization, Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET), which traces its history to the 1800s. Several universities in India have been trying to get IET accreditations for their courses with varying levels of success. But among these universities, SASTRA has emerged as the clear winner, having won the maximum number of accreditations from IET for their courses.

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WHAT MAKES

MANAV RACHNA A TOP CHOICE THIS YEAR

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There are several reasons why Manav Rachna is a great choice during this difficult academic year.

Among these, three reasons stand out – which are Manav Rachna’s outstanding performance in campus placements, startup incubation and research. Admissions are now open for over 100 graduate, post graduate and PhD courses at Manav Rachna through Phase II of the Manav Rachna National Aptitude Test (MRNAT) 2021.

Led by Dr. Prashant Bhalla as President, Faridabad based Manav Rachna Educational Institutions is home to two universities, Manav Rachna International Institute of Research & Studies (MRIIRS), which was formerly called Manav Rachna International University.

MRIIRS is a deemed-to-be university under the UGC Act. The other university under the Group’s fold is Manav Rachna University (MRU), which was formerly Manav Rachna College of Engineering. MRU is a State Private University in Haryana. In a pandemic age when the future seems uncertain it pays to be studying at a university where facilitation of performance is certain. For instance, Manav Rachna has been a stellar performer on the placements front, with more than 500 renowned MNCs and Indian firms recruiting from the university every year. In fact, Manav Rachna is rated at 5-Star by QS for Employability. Startup incubation is another high-performance domain for Manav Rachna, with the Group having made definitive steps towards establishing a startup culture of creating job creators and not job seekers alone, a reality. So far, Manav Rachna has incubated over 80 entrepreneurial ventures by its students and faculty. The Manav Rachna Business Incubator (MRBI) is functioning under

the ambit of MRU. Admissions are now open for courses in subjects including Engineering, Law, Literature and Languages, Computer Science, Design, Psychology, Digital Marketing, Nutrition and Dietetics, Hotel Management, Business Studies, Media Studies, Commerce, Social Sciences etc.

Focusing on sunrise domains and innovation is most important in this pandemic age, and look no further than Manav Rachna to deliver on this front as it has been successful in integrating emerging topics into its curriculum. These include domains like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, DevOps, automation, digital marketing, fintech, and the Internet of Things. Manav Rachna is a powerhouse in research which is evident from its 400+ active scholars and over 160 awarded scholars. MREI is also home to over 100 plus qualified supervisors, supported by excellent infrastructure, well stocked library, SPSS, and Plagiarism Turnitin software and a dedicated Doctoral department to support its researchers.

Meritorious PhD students are also given a research assistantship between Rs. 18,000 to Rs. 24,000 per month. Manav Rachna is now inviting applications from eligible candidates for admission to Doctoral (PhD) programmes in various specialisations in, both, engineering and non-engineering domains. With a wide array of specialisations to choose from, and a unique new age approach towards research and development, Manav Rachna is a great place to be a researcher too.

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WHAT MAKES

LNMIIT A TOP CHOICE THIS YEAR

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LNMIIT takes pride in being a unique destination for best-in-class learning across varied disciplines. Those interested to pursue higher studies in Communication and Computer Engineering (CCE), Electronics and Computer Engineering (ECE), Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), Physics, Mathematics, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering areas should look no further than this two-decade old institute. It also offers B. Tech/M. Tech (5-Year Integrated Dual Degree) to keep with the interdisciplinary nature of future higher education curriculum.

Accredited in 2016 with ‘A’ grade, LNMIIT has around 15 specialized centres, research projects worth around Rs. 8 crores and inked multiple MoUs with some of the most prestigious universities in the world for student exchange programs and faculty collaborations. In addition to this, the institute has partnered with the likes of TI, IBM, KPIT, ARM, Intel for its co-branded labs. In terms of its infrastructure and facilities, LNMIIT is more than equipped to tide over the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. With high definition video conferencing and online teaching platforms, students can receive blended modes of education that makes the learning experience wholesome. The LNMIIT online library hosts a staggering 3500+ e-journals & 2000+ e-repositories useful for assignment work and exam preparation.

On the careers front, last year’s batch witnessed some of the highest salary packages on offer including the highest package of Rs. 58.9 lakh per annum. The average salary package last year was around 11.82 lakh per annum based on official data while this year the package was Rs. 10.82 lakh per annum This put the total number of students placed at 91.78% and 92% respectively.

The placements at LNMIIT are rewarding as it is partly due to the exposure of its students to internships at the likes of Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Adobe etc. These internships are sometimes based outside the country like at ArcelorMittal at Kazakhstan; Taiwan, Switzerland, New York etc. The institute is well connected to networks like the SAE Student Chapters & Google Development Group that cater to specific industries.

Among the university’s well-known startups include the likes of Playlyfe, Dream Animators, Rohilya Foods, The Elite Express, Mytokri.com, OC2 etc.

The alumni of LNMIIT have received some elite recognition in recent years. Last year, Karmesh Gupta became the youngest entrant under the Enterprise Technology Category of the ‘Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2020 List’. In 2018, it was Saket Modi, CEO of Lucideus Tech who was selected in the ‘Forbes 40 Under 40 List’. The alumni play a vital role in the placement process through guidance and motivation sessions to current students to help them choose their career paths.

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WHAT MAKES CHITKARA A TOP CHOICE THIS YEAR W ith over 500 bluechip Indian and MNC corporations recruiting from Chitkara campuses each year, you know you are in a stable university when you choose Chitkara even in this challenging pandemic year. Apaart from its traditional strongholds like engineering and business, Punjab based Chitkara University has rapidly emerged as a leader in architecture, design, media, culinary sciences, hospitality, merchant navy courses, health sciences, paramedical, optometry, baking and more. Admissions are now open for almost all subjects and courses spanning graduate, post graduate and doctoral levels. For maximum convenience, Chitkara is offering both online and offline modes for admission this year. While many comparable private and deemed universities are struggling to adapt to the pandemic

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realities, Chancellor Dr Ashok K. Chitkara and ProChancellor Dr Madhu Chitkara are leading Chitkara University to unbelievable heights in every domain that matters for a university, including co-branded degrees with leading national and international industries, globally competitive startup incubation, international academic tie-ups with leading universities and funded research projects by even European agencies. In the new age reality and need for creating not just job seekers but job creators, Chitkara has made giant strides. Even for private universities with their own incubation centres, it is an uphill task for delivering on the promise, as unlike degrees and even placements, start-ups don’t become successful on hard work alone. It calls for brilliant ideas, the right enabling ecosystem and real entrepreneurial brains that can be groomed. It is in this background that Chitakara Univeristy’s has made significant achievements in the international start-up domain. The university incubation initiatives, named Chitkara University Research and Innovation Network (CURIN) and the Chandigarh based Chitkara Innovation Incubator, are the places where its researchers, faculty and aspiring student entrepreneurs work across various disciplines to extend the boundaries of knowledge so that their projects can be executed. Chitkara encourages its startup leaders to participate in international competitions and they have come across as successful in several competitions hosted by or participated by universities from UK, China etc that are the hotspots of innovation. Chitkara startup initiatives also work along with public facilities like Chandigarh Region Innovation and Knowledge Cluster (CRIKC), when needed. Charu Khosla, assistant dean, office of international affairs, Chitkara University, Punjab, recently won the prestigious Greenpreneur Award 2021 organised by FICCI in association with Punjab government for exemplary work in ‘energy management’. Charu Khosla is also the founder of BB OORJA Pvt Ltd, which has been incubated by Chitkara University; The startup uses clean and green fuel through agro-waste management for its smokeless cooking stove.

WHAT MAKES SCSVMV A TOP CHOICE THIS YEAR India has many universities, but very few centers of learning. By this measure, the country has few higher education institutes that combine modern curriculum with traditional modes of knowledge. However, it is this feature that aptly captures the significance of SCSVMV University in today’s times. With more than 8000 students and 60+ MoUs, the Kanchipuram-based varsity is the sure-shot destination for blended learning, given its world-class faculty and collaborations.

Admissions for 2021-2022 have begun in full swing with applications invited for the undergraduate programmes, including via lateral entry and post-graduate programmes such as M.D/M.S in Ayurveda that would open up job opportunities in the AYUSH domains of GoI. Apart from the vast physical resources, the SCSVMV online library houses digitized ancient manuscripts, departmental publications, e-books, Sanskrit e-learning portal (Indra Saraswathi). The research programmes include M.Phil & PhD in Education, English, Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Sanskrit & Indian Culture.

The varsity also offers minor/honours degrees in emerging disciplines like 3D Printing, Cyber Security, IoT, Robotics, AI & Machine Learning etc. It has an ‘A’ Grade accreditation from NAAC and AICTE and UGC approvals of all its programmes.

With MoUs signed with notable entities like BITS Pilani, National Stock Exchange (NSE), Great Lakes Institute of Management, Hitachi Solutions, Oxford University, French Institute of Pondicherry, Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd, National Mission for Manuscripts (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts) among others, SCSVMV has carved a unique niche and redefined the perception of a higher education institute The presence of four dedicated centers of research - Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Centre For Advanced Research (SJCAR), Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Centre For Advanced Computing (SJCAC), Advanced Management Research Centre (AMRC) and Centre For Advanced Manufacturing and Material Processing (CAMMP) – is one of the main sources of attraction for recruiters and foreign universities.

Notable recruiters include IndusInd Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBM), IBM, Cognizant, Indiabulls, General Electric, Bridgestone, Stayzilla etc. More than 200 of its graduates have secured at least one or more job offers for the just concluded placement drive.

With funding from the Department of Science & Technology (DST), a ‘Differential Thermal Analyser (DTA)’ was developed to provide an affordable laboratory instrument for PG students in other less-endowed institutes. Another research funded project, this time from DRDO, seeks to develop the electronics operation of a customized oxygen gas sensor, a critical instrument in the recovery of COVID-19 patients. Based on NIRF data, the university also fares quite well on execution of consultancy projects with a combined value of more than 1 crore INR in the 2019-20 period alone.

SCSVMV University is also due to host an International Workshop on Metadata Standards for Palm Leaf Manuscripts next month, an initiative sponsored by MeitY under Project Saswathaiswaryam (Govt. of India). The goal is to ‘facilitate user access to and use of the knowledge recorded on palm leaf manuscripts (PLMs) as effectively as possible.’ The guest speakers include VC Prof. & Scientist S.V Raghavan; Dr. Mukul Sinha, MD, ESCL; Dr. Pratapanand Jha, Director (Cultural Informatics), Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Ministry of Culture and Dr. Dinesh S Katre, Senior Director & Head, HCDC Group (C-DAC); Dr. Nisachol Chamnongsri, Lecturer, Suranaree University of Technology; Prof. Andrea Acri, Tenured Asst. Professor in Tantric Studies, E´cole Pratique des Hautes E´tudes (EPHE, PSL University, Paris) among others.

As the University’s mission mantra goes, “Educational Delight”, the focus is not just on modern scientific education but to embrace the indigenous knowledge systems that enhance the learning experience. This is best enshrined in the words of Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. S.V Raghavan who implores its student community to ‘keep the welfare of Indian society in your minds at all times’ SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Rabindranath Tagore University (formerly AISECT University)

WHAT MAKES RNTU A TOP CHOICE THIS YEAR

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

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

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

Mr. Santosh Kumar Choubey, Chancellor, RNTU highlighted the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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INDIA'S MINISTERS ON MISSION MODE WITH 36 NEW FACES, RETENTION OF ALL THE HEAVYWEIGHT TALENTS AND PROMOTIONS TO 7 EXISTING MINISTERS, IT IS THE WIDEST OVERHAUL OF PM NARENDRA MODI'S CABINET. WHAT WOULD BE THE MISSIONS ASSIGNED TO EACH? Changing the council of ministers in a country like India is a tough call. But India badly needed it after the devastating second wave. The country needed some fresh talents, perspectives and experiences.

There are also the issues brought forth by a growing population and a growing economy, which means much more work in several departments and ministries. Then there is the regular concern of bettering the representation of states, regions, communities and castes in the ministry. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has worked out a mega overhaul, keeping in mind all these factors. For example, Ministry of External Affairs was always bogged down in excessive workload, and this crucial ministry has been given two new Ministers of State.

At the same time, due to the unique issues of the diaspora hailing from the four corners of the country, the expansion has now ensured that the four MEA ministers are from the North, South, West & East of the country. There is also the issue of whole domains needing a dedicated ministry of their own. Each Prime Minister in India has been credited with adding such new ministries, like PV Narasimha Rao created the three ministries of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Power,

and New & Renewable Power, additions which now seem like they have always been there. Similarly, it took AB Vajpayee to create a ministry for Tourism and Dr. Manmohan Singh to start a ministry for MSME, additions that were so crucial. Each of them have started a few ministries each, and PM Narendra Modi who has started as many as 7 new ministries during his two terms, with the most noteworthy being for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Housing & Urban Affairs, has done it again this time by starting a ministry for Cooperation. With large inter-state cooperatives like NAFED, KRIBHCO & IFFCO touching the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of Indians, especially farmers and those living in rural India, it makes immense sense to start a dedicated ministry for this sector’s welfare and initiatives. PM Modi’s closest ally and second in command Amit Shah has been entrusted with this new ministry, given the deft political role he will have to play as almost all of these massive cooperative movements are led by political leaders from non-BJP parties like Congress, Samajwadi Party, Akali Dal, NCP etc. Here is a look at the new ministers and their portfolios, as well as the existing and promoted ministers.

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AMIT SHAH

MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS His journey from being a regular poll booth manager to the youngest serving full-time Home Minister is not without its stumbling blocks. One of the occupants of the all-powerful North Block, Amit Shah is arguably the most indispensable member of PM Modi’s government. The latest re-shuffle underlines his closeness to Shah that even after 7 years at the helm, their relationship shows no signs of rupture. His most productive role in government was undoubtedly as the BJP President, in which he largely oversaw some record-breaking state and national level victories for the party, especially the stunning 2019 general election triumph. The recent West Bengal election episode might be quickly forgotten as the party gained significant ground regardless and looks set to increase its footprint in the other election-bound states. It should not come as any surprise that Shah, although detached from day-to-day functioning of party matters, would remain the key strategist and decision-maker. His experience as Gujarat’s Home Minister has raised questions about his ability to weather the storm from Delhi. But his track record since 2019 suggests Shah is more than capable of facing the heat if one were to examine his counter-attacking statements against opposition to the abrogation of Article 370 or promulgation of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 (UAPA). One of the criticisms of Shah, after his first two years as Union Home Minister, has been his failure to engage with dissenting voices. However, there might be some course correction underway as he pledged to assuage the concerns of Kashmiri parties and stakeholders and restore full statehood at an appropriate time. More interestingly, Shah will head the newly created Ministry of Cooperation with an aim to improve ‘ease of doing business’ for cooperatives by streamlining processes to enable the development of Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) across different segments like agriculture, banking, finance, housing etc. At a time when small producers and groups have suffered due to lack of credit and technical support, Shah’s task will involve planning, promoting and financing cooperative development programme right from the village to national level.

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NITIN GADKARI

MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT & HIGHWAYS Gadkari is used to being in the spotlight. His work as the PWD Minister in Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999 is enough to take his credentials seriously. The man fondly called as ‘bridge bhushan’, delivered India’s iconic Mumbai-Pune Expressway and another 55 flyovers in Mumbai. In his tenure as the Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Gadkari was instrumental in the increased pace of road creation with a record breaking 37 km per day constructed during the COVID-19 lockdown period.

In total, the ministry of road transport and highways has constructed 13,394 km of highways in FY21. This deserves special praise as when he assumed office back in 2014, Gadkari inherited close to 400 stalled projects with a combined investment of Rs 3.85 trillion.

Since then, the average annual construction has increased by 83% during the period FY15 to FY21.

He is also an ardent supporter of pro-market and proindustry reforms. As Union Minister for MSMEs, he increased the limit of investment in plant, machinery and equipment for micro industry from Rs. 25 lakh to Rs.1 crore. Gadkari had also mooted the idea of a rating system for the MSMEs based on GST, taxation, export records, which would help improve their access to credit and other facilities. The indirect tax regime, although termed by Gadkari as “essential”, proved inefficient for small businesses. He has also been at the forefront of alternate fuel options for the mobility sector, most notably the launch of the firstever diesel tractor converted to a much cleaner (compressed natural gas) CNG variant. Gadkari is also likely to promote electric vehicles and mobility as a means to curb pollution and reduce India’s fuel import bill. The industry has been lobbying hard for improved infrastructural and financial suppor t but under Gadkari’s vision, it won’t take long before India emerges as a key player in the electric mobility space.

NIRMALA SITHARAMAN MINISTER OF FINANCE; AND MINISTER OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS Nirmala Sitharaman’s steady rise in electoral politics has been rewarded with many firsts. She etched in her name into record books when she became the first full-time woman defence (2017) and finance minister (2019) in independent India. Nirmala’s first assignment was in the National Commission for Women in 2003. Her first ministerial stint saw her in charge of commerce and industry and later finance in the capacity of MoS in Modi’s first cabinet. Her early career choices included a stint with PwC as a Senior Manager (Research & Analysis) and as Deputy Director at the Centre for Public Policy Studies in Hyderabad. Educated in the prestigious JNU with Masters and MPhil degrees, Nirmala went on to enroll in a PhD program in Economics but chose not to complete it. Holding two important portfolios of finance and corporate affairs, she was immediately thrown at the deep end as she presided over the lowest growth years since the late 1980s. Corporate India received some much needed boost as Nirmala slashed the tax rate to around 25% but the structural problems were aplenty. The government has struggled to contain the fiscal deficit, the disinvestment targets seem unattainable and unemployment is at a 45-year high. Even with the fiscal deficit around 9% of GDP, government revenues have also taken a hit. In the preceding FY, the disinvestment target of Rs. 2.10 lakh crore was unmet while GST collection has experienced shortfalls. Another issue has been the rising NPAs, which have acutely increased in the aftermath of the financial constraints from the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of her primary goals will be to ensure that policies are introduced to prevent global credit agencies from taking adverse action. With falling GDP growth rate and lockdown-induced consumption shor tages, the government is fighting fires on all multiple fronts.

NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar has been, and continues to be, the face of the Modi government’s new farm laws which aims to improve incomes for farmers by allowing them to sell their produce to even corporates like Reliance and ITC for good prices. A prominent BJP face from Madhya Pradesh, Tomar was earlier the Minister for Mines in the Modi government’s first term and Minister for Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, along with additional charge of Minister for Parliamentary Affairs. During his time at Ministry of Mines, he was widely credited with bringing transparency to the auction process in the sector. With sufficient experience in government, including as a Cabinet Minister in the Madhya Pradesh government from 2003 to 2008, Tomar remains resolute about the implementation of the farm laws although opening the door to deliberations on its provisions with farmer unions. While the protests might continue to ensue, Tomar’s biggest task would be to assuage farmer concerns on legal assurances on MSP and reforms on the APMC and mandi systems. On the latter, the minister is still considering minor concessions with efforts to provide more resources to the APMCs. Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat to Farmers Infrastructure Fund, Rs. 1 lakh crore will be allocated to the APMCs. He is also likely to consider tax parity between APMCs and private mandis, which was another bone of contention for farmer unions.

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DR. S JAISHANKAR Minister of External Affairs

Notwithstanding his illustrious track record in the foreign service, Dr. S Jaishankar has effortlessly donned the hat of a seasoned politician despite his still nascent days in governmental affairs. Making a seamless transition from the corridors of bureaucracy to the rough and tumble of party politics is not for everyone but Dr. Jaishankar is unlike most.

Currently a Rajya Sabha member representing Gujarat, it is his stellar portfolios outside the government that has earned him the trust and reputation of Prime Minister Modi. A 1977 IFS batch officer, Dr. Jaishankar had the distinction of serving as India’s Ambassador to the U.S & China (undoubtedly India’s two most important external relationships) along with postings in Singapore and the Czech Republic. He was often viewed as Modi’s go-to man on foreign policy since the latter’s days as Gujarat CM, aiding his government’s outreach in countries like Japan. He is also widely credited to have introduced former PM Manmohan Singh to former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe that helped re-establish cordial relations between both countries. He was instrumental in the negotiations of the signing of the Indo-US nuclear deal between 2004 & 2008. In his role as the Foreign Secretary (for which he was personally picked by Modi), Dr. Jaishankr worked back channels to end the Doklam stand-off with China in mid-2017. His stint in the corporate sector was brief (Global Corporate Affairs Chief at TATA Sons) before he joined the BJP in 2019. He was the automatic choice for the External Affairs portfolio and played a key role in improving India’s ties with the U.S, European Union, ASEAN, Australia among others. In light of the Galwan Valley clash with China, Jaishankar used his diplomatic influence and contact with his Chinese counterparts to dial back tensions. However, challenges are abound in India’s neighbourhood especially in Nepal and Myanmar with increasing Chinese influence in these countries a cause of concern. He also oversaw the government’s Vaccine Maitri initiative that delivered around 64.5 million doses of vaccines to 85 countries. An astute mind with a strategic bend, Dr. Jaishankar brings a sense of assurance to India’s foreign posture, which is a crucial aspect of the post-COVID 19 world affairs.

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SMRITI IRANI Minister of Women and Child Development In spite of being India’s youngest minister in government, Smriti Irani has developed a knack of packing a punch at some of the opposition’s political heavyweights. Early in her political career, she fought an unsuccessful battle to oust Congress veteran Kapil Sibal from his Chandni Chowk seat. Later, in 2014, she led a feisty and ambitious campaign to displace Rahul Gandhi from one of the Congress’ bastions – Amethi. Due to her determination to fight against all odds, Smriti was chosen as the Human Resource Development Minister in the first Modi government, a post she held until 2016. It was under her initiative that the very first national ranking framework for India’s higher education institutions was launched.

Smriti went on to become the Minister for Information and Broadcasting from July 2017 to May 2018, after she led the Textiles Ministry for a period of two years until the recent cabinet reshuffle. Some of her notable achievements include successfully pursuing Permanent Commission for Women in the Indian Army by facilitating legal aid to women officers; launched ‘Saksham’- the 1st ever Vision Document released by any political organization in India that underlines policies, programs and implementation tools for the upliftment of the Differently Abled in India etc. As the Minister for Women and Child Development, Irani knows better than most that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated gender issues and inequalities. She has been an outspoken voice on the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace (PoSH) Act, 2013, which is yet to be implemented effectively. Other issues close to her heart are the 33% quota for the Women’s Representation Bill and stringent penal provisions against rape. Her ministry is also expected to reintroduce the anti–human trafficking Bill or Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 and take concrete steps to further the goals of the National Nutrition Mission.

PIYUSH GOYAL

Minister of Commerce and Industry; Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and Minister of Textiles Piyush Goyal’s track record of spirited fire-fighting on various issues meant that the BJP entrusted him with crucial portfolios whenever an emergency arose. He twice stepped in for ailing colleague Arun Jaitley as finance and corporate affairs minister. Following the 2009 national poll defeat, he astutely managed the post of National Treasurer and was instrumental in the massive digital campaign that propelled the party to electoral triumph in 2014. He was made the Minister for power, coal and new and renewable energy in the first cabinet and later Minister for Mines from 2016 to 2017. He handled the crucial Railways portfolio for four years, including the challenging effort to run 40 Oxygen Express with 161 tankers to deliver a record load of 2,511 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen.

His most notable achievement was the successful launch of the UJALA scheme that aimed at distribution of energy-efficient LED bulbs in rural and semi-urban households. As the Power Minister, Goyal also introduced the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) to revive debt-ridden power distribution companies and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) to improve India's energy access.

An unfinished agenda is the India-US trade deal, which might require fresh negotiations following the disruptions during the Trump administration. Goyal has also been seeking amendments to the Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020, including a ban on fraudulent flash sales by e-commerce companies that have impacted smaller sellers and retailers on the platform.

DHARMENDRA PRADHAN

Minister of Education; and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship With a huge task cut out in one of the most crucial portfolios, Dharmendra Pradhan is not one to shy away from challenges. In many ways, his exceptional skill as an action-biased leader makes him more than suitable to bring in reforms for India’s education sector that has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pradhan began his stint at the executive level as one of the BJP’s national General Secretary in 2010. He handled the crucial portfolio of Petroleum and Natural Gas from 2014 to 2021 during a period when the government initiated a slew of schemes and programs. Pradhan was instrumental in the successful introduction of the clean cooking gas scheme (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana) for which he earned the tag of “Ujjwala Man”. The scheme helped in providing over eight million LPG connections to below poverty line (BPL) families in six years. His efforts at deregulation of diesel reignited interest from private and foreign companies in the fuel retailing business.

He also began the groundwork and made significant progress to lay gas pipelines to eastern India and saw to it that city gas licenses were distributed effectively.

He was also in charge of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship from 2017 to 2019 and therefore his recent appointment as the Education Minister has considerable logic. Pradhan has already communicated his vision for the sector stating that more online avenues for unskilled youth need to be identified. He has also identified 181 key focus areas of the NEP which will be implemented on priority.

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ARJUN MUNDA

Minister of Tribal Affairs

An experienced hand and a credible voice of the tribal communities, Arjun Munda’s larger mission is to restore the rights and dignity of one of India’s marginalized groups. A former CM of Jharkhand until 2013, he began as a grassroots level worker and rose up the ranks in the party where he was recognized for his extensive work with backward and tribal communities. Considered a popular mass leader, the BJP also appointed him as a National General Secretary. As part of his ministry’s outreach to the youth, the Going Online as Leaders (GOAL) Program was launched in partnership with Facebook to digitally skill and empower 5000 youth from tribal communities over the next five years. Under his leadership, a pilot run of the program was done in 2019 to mentor 100 tribal girls through the support of 25 women leaders. It was spread across five Indian states i.e. Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Maharashtra. Recently, he launched the 'AdiPrashikshan Portal' and Online Capacity Building Programmes for the Scheduled Tribe for their empowerment. The portal would act as a Central Repository of all training programs conducted by Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs). His key objective in the upcoming tenure would be to secure the rights of traditional forest dwellers and proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006; promote community participation in forest conservation; livelihood improvement of the Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDSTs) and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs); extend MGNREGS and NRLM to forest dwellers as well as initiate skill development programs and give impetus to agro-forestry and horticulture projects.

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PRALHAD JOSHI

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Minister of Coal; and Minister of Mines Pralhad Joshi is one of the few from BJP’s state chapters to be elevated to Cabinet rank. He was the State President of the BJP in Karnataka from 2014 to 2016 and he also served in the panel of chairpersons of Lok Sabha from 2014 to 2018. Under his leadership, the Ministries of Coal and Mining introduced best and safe practices for the entire industry and held regular review meetings for mineral coal block auctions. He has been a staunch supporter of the continued use of coal, at a time when renewable energy is fast gaining traction, stating that it accounted for 74% of India’s power generation and is likely to contribute 50% of the power generated over the next two decades. He is, however, mindful of the need to reduce the country’s carbon emissions but believes that in order to prioritise growth, there is a pressing need to support the sector which employees millions of people. This is also his biggest challenge in the upcoming years as investment declines for coal-fueled projects and gets diverted to clean energy. But, as he points out, coal stands at 44% of India’s primary energy demand with renewables at 3%. His task will be to harness its potential to the fullest in terms of production while at the same time ensuring optimal consumption.

MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI Minister of Minority Affairs

One of the select few to have retained his portfolio in one of the biggest re-shuffles in the Modi government era, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is undoubtedly the most prominent Muslim face and a committed spokesperson of the party.

Hand-picked by Amit Shah as one of the 11 BJP VP’s in 2014, Naqvi isn’t new to high level responsibilities. In the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government of 1998, he was the MoS for Information and Broadcasting with the additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs from 2001 to 2003. During his stint, the I&B ministry initiated reforms like Direct to Home broadcast system (DTH) and giving industry status to Indian film industry. As the Minority Affairs minister, Naqvi will be at the forefront of the likely backlash for the government’s plans to introduce the Uniform Civil Code and any reforms to the Muslim Personal Law Board. As a battle-hardened leader, he was instrumental in communicating the BJP’s objectives in light of the anti-NRC and anti-CAA protests last year.

GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is one of the select few ministers to have retained their portfolio on account of his impeccable performance in his first term. At the helm of last cabinet’s newly created ministry – Jal Shakti – Shekhawat has been a refreshing addition to the Union Cabinet. Prior to his current portfolio, he was the Minster of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare from 2017 to 2019. A prominent Rajput face of the BJP in Rajasthan, Shekhawat is being talked about as a potential CM candidate for the state assembly elections in 2023. He is credited with the expansion of the Jodhpur airport and worked extensively in Barmer’s border villages. Shekhawat was instrumental in boosting the civil defence at the border areas by setting up 40 schools and four hostels.

For his ministry, the immediate agenda would be to seek resolution of two water-related disputes. The first one relates to Krishna water dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana while the other is the longstanding issue between the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the Mekedatu dam project across Cauvery river on the former’s side of the border. In the longer term, the Ministry is awash with pressing challenges with urban water management systems under stress. A large number of people die every year due to inadequate access to safe drinking water with an alarming 70% of the country's water contaminated. There have also been forewarnings that 21 of India’s cities, including metros, are vulnerable to groundwater depletion, which would affect an estimated 100 million people. The availability of water for irrigation and agricultural purposes would be another challenge especially due deficient monsoon rains this time around.

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DR MAHENDRA NATH PANDEY Minister of Heavy Industries

As the former Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dr. Pandey was the face of the Skill India initiative since its inception back in 2014. He was also the Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development from 2016 to 2017. In light of COVID-19 challenges, his ministry launched a training programme - ‘Customized Crash Course’ programme - to skill and upskill over one lakh COVID warriors across the country. The training programme has commenced in 111 training centresacross 26 states and soon one lakh professionals will be available for on-the-job support at healthcare facilities across locations. Due to the increased burden on doctors & nurses in the country, Dr. Pandey’s ministry ensured that sufficient capacity building efforts and on-the-job training in health facilities like primary health centres, hospitals, diagnostic facilities, sample collection centers etc were made available for healthcare workers. The benefits to candidates include a government certification, stipend, accidental insurance of two lakh rupees, boarding and lodging. In his current role, Dr. Pandey’s agenda includes the faster adoption of electric mobility and development of its manufacturing ecosystem in the country through the FAME India scheme, which was extended by two years. The electrification of shared, public transport could be a potential game-changer for the sector in the years ahead. A former President of the BJP state unit in Uttar Pradesh, he is a widely respected figure in the government because of his strong support among the Brahmins in the state.

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NARAYAN RANE

Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises An influential senior political leader from Maharashtra, Narayan Rane takes charge as the new Cabinet minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. He is a former Chief Minister of Maharashtra back in 1999 and Leader of Opposition from 1999 to 2005. He comes in with experience as a former cabinet minister in the Government of Maharashtra where he handled the portfolios of Industry, Port, Employment and Selfemployment. A prominent Maratha leader, the BJP is counting on his clout in the coastal Konkan region where the party is still to wrest initiative from its rivals.

As for his immediate challenges in a sector that faced headwinds due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown, Rane will hope to bring in reforms that propel small businesses and entrepreneurs. With a increased thrust for Aatmanirbhar products and businesses, the Ministry will seek to revive the khadi sector where India dominates the global markets. He is also expected to expedite the sector’s full integration into the GST network and improve their access to working capital through the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee (ECLG) scheme. This is especially important as a large number of MSMEs require loans with ticket size ranging from at least Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh to stay afloat. However, the formal banking sector is able to meet only a fraction of the demand from the sector. Given his experience in the employment and labour sector, Rane is also mindful of the unique productivity challenges and lack of access to global value chain. Therefore, increasing upskilling programs and improving the standard of MSME goods will feature high on his priority list.

SARBANANDA SONOWAL Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Minister of AYUSH

Assam’s former Chief Minister, Sonowal, has been handed the key ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways with a view to boost India’s private investment and development of the sector. Before his stint as CM, Sonowal effectively handled the Ministry for Sports & Youth Affairs from 2014 to 2016. He had also served as the President of BJP state unit in Assam earlier. One of his critical interventions as the CM of Assam was when he astutely steered the state in the midst of the National Registry of Citizens (NRC) move by the Centre. Sonowal also earned his spurs for cracking down on corruption in his state, addressing the illegal immigrant issue in the border areas with Bangladesh and admitting around 60,000 poor students with financial aid to gain admission to different colleges.

As for his current agenda, the immediate attention is likely to entail solving challenges faced by ports for carriage of goods due to the lockdown. Sonowal’s administrative experience becomes handy to initiate technological and digital induction processes for the port and shipping sector. His ministry will also look into effective implementation of the dispute redressal institutional mechanism ‘SAROD-Ports’. To harness the roughly 14,500 km navigable waterways, the government’s ambitious Sagarmala Programme will further promote port development. Sonowal’s objective would be to reduce logistics cost of EXIM and domestic trade with minimal infrastructure investment. Inland water transport is another potential source of investment with the government’s underconstruction projects as part of the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP). To enhance the access and establish alternative waterway connectivity to the North East through Bangladesh, Sonowal’s experience of the region will lead to new initiatives and measures. The Ramayan Cruise Tour, on the Saryu river in Ayodhya, is one such transportation project that is under implementation that aims to boost spiritual tourism.

JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA Minister of Civil Aviation

The scion from Gwalior is all set to deliver on a portfolio that was once held by his father, Madhavrao Scindia.

Educated in Stanford and Harvard, his stint in the Cabinet isn’t altogether new. As the MoS for Communications and Information Technology under the Manmohan Singh government, he was credited for reviving the Indian postal system by setting up integrated centres at post offices across the country. It was his CEO-like working style that eventually won him laurels with stakeholders. In one instance, he successfully brought different players to the negotiating table to find solutions for pending power projects. Scindia, however, won’t have much time to lose in his new role as airlines struggle to generate meaningful revenue and are still forced to fly at reduced capacity. Air India is the obvious challenge with his predecessors unable to sell off the government carrier. But this is likely to take at least a few years given the current pandemic situation and its impact on the sector.

Scindia’s attention is likely to turn towards the privatization of struggling airports. As part of the Rs 2.5 lakh crore asset monetisation plan, the government is looking to sell its residual stake in airports. Scindia will hope that this move will help make smaller airports more attractive for private entities to redevelop and operate under PPP models. The UDAN scheme – aimed to connect small towns, unserved and underserved airports on India's air map – is another major challenge as only 232 routes are working to date since the scheme was launched 4 years ago. Some of these routes do not have flights, leading to rising operational costs.

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ASHWINI VAISHNAW

Minister of Railways; Minister of Communications; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology

PASHU PATI KUMAR PARAS Minister of Food Processing Industries

Background & Experience: Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha Alumnus of IIT Kanpur & Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer (1994-batch) Deputy Secretary in former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s office in 2004 Deputy Chairman, Mormugao Port Trust, Goa Managing Director of GE Transportation for South Asia and Head of Urban Infrastructure Strategy in Siemens Capabilities: As collector of Balasore district, he took swift measures before a super cyclone struck Odisha in 1999 that helped save 10,000 lives.

As Deputy Chairman of Mormugao Port Trust, he developed a coal import terminal, cruise terminal and set up a privatized container business As Deputy Secretary to PM Vajpayee, he led PPP models for developing infrastructure Challenges & Opportunities: The new IT 2021 rules, Big Tech & cyberspace regulations Implementation of Ahmedabad Mumbai high speed line Rectify ageing rail infrastructure & fast-track pace of new project execution through easy land acquisition Revamp PSUs in telecom sector & e-government infrastructure in remote areas

Background & Experience: National President, Lok Janshakti Party State President (Bihar), Lok Janshakti Party Seven-time Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly from Alauli constituency since 1977; in the current Lok Sabha, he represents Hajipur Capabilities: Served as Minister of Animal and Fish Resources & Social Welfare in the Government of Bihar Several years of experience to uplift SCs in Bihar Challenges & Opportunities: Raising the processing level of fruits and vegetables to reduce wastage Developing several mega food parks & expand the market for processed food Aid innovation in farming and processing & operationalise the food processing park in Khagaria

KIREN RIJIJU Minister of Law and Justice Background & Experience: Three-time Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh Former Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports and Minister of State for Home Affairs Junior minister for Minority Affairs and Ayush

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Capabilities: At the young age of 29, he served as a Member of Khadi and Village Industries Commission from 2000 to 2005 Personally oversaw & implemented the Khelo India Programme; Fit India Movement; Target Olympics Podium Scheme (TOPS) Enhanced the prize money for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award increased to Rs.25 lakh from the previous amount of Rs.7.5 lakh.

Arjuna Award’s prize money increased to Rs.15 lakh from Rs.5 lakh.

Promoted adventure sports tourism in the North-East Challenges & Opportunities: Concerns over rising pendency of cases (crossed 4.5 crore) Filling of vacancies in the Supreme Court and the 25 High Courts & recruitment of judicial officers in the subordinate judiciary Creation of an all-India judicial service Improvement of the judicial infrastructure and technology upgrade

RAJ KUMAR SINGH Minister of Power; and Minister of New and Renewable Energy

Background & Experience: Indian Police Services (IPS) officer in 1974 and Indian Administrative (IAS) officers in 1975 Elected twice to Lok Sabha in 2014 and 2019 from Arrah in Bihar Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New and Renewable Energy in September 2017

Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Capabilities: Steered Modi government’s power sector reforms agenda that made India surplus in electricity Managed the power grid and brought reforms in the distribution sector which had been debt-laden During his tenure, the solar power tariff dropped to an all-time low of Rs 1.99 per unit (similarly for wind energy tariffs) Challenges & Opportunities: Improving discom finances Balancing the low-carbon imperatives & the role of coal in India’s energy matrix

Diplomatic postings in Brazil, Japan, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs and Civil Aviation and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry (in 2019)

Chairman, Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation Limited in 2010 General Secretary, BJP (Gujarat) in 2014 Former Minister of State (MoS) with independent charge in Shipping ministry & junior minister for chemical and fertilizers

Capabilities: Launched the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework 2.0 to inculcate a climate-sensitive approach to urban planning and development Launched 'Streets for People Challenge', which aims to inspire cities to create walking-friendly and vibrant streets through quick, innovative, and low-cost measures in response to COVID-19

Capabilities: Organised a 123-km-long padyatra for the ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ campaign, covering 45 educationally backward villages in his constituency of Palitana As MoS for Chemicals & Fertilisers, the production of drugs in India stayed in step with the demand during the devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

Challenges & Opportunities: Increasing motorisation and lack of adequate infrastructure for walking and cycling Measures to reduce negative externalities such as dependence on fossil fuels, GHG emissions, congestion, pollution and the associated health impact Hiking domestic oil and gas production, improve city gas distribution & promote LPG subsidy schemes Increase the share of natural gas in the primary energy mix of the country to 15% by 2030 from current 6.2%

MANSUKH MANDAVIYA

Challenges & Opportunities: Vaccine availability to states; increase domestic production of vaccines Overcoming medicine shortage especially to treat mucormycosis Ramping up the healthcare infrastructure; engaging with infectious disease experts for unlocking guidelines and promotion of research on public health risks Synergising & combining strengths of modern & Indian systems of medicine

BHUPENDRA YADAV Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of Labour and Employment

Minister of Health and Family Welfare; and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers

HARDEEP SINGH PURI

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Background & Experience: 1974 batch of the Indian Foreign Service Served as the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations from 2009 to 2013 Joint Secretary (MEA, MoD, Eco Relations)

Background & Experience: First elected to Gujarat Assembly in 2002 becoming youngest-ever MLA at the age of 30 & member of Rajya Sabha in 2010

Background & Experience: National General Secretary, Bharatiya Janata Party since 2010 MP from Rajya Sabha representing Rajasthan SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Government Counsel for the Liberhan Commission which investigated the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid Co-author of Supreme Court on Forest Conservation (2007, ed.2) Capabilities: Played an instrumental role in the BJP’s assembly election victories of Rajasthan (2013), Gujarat (2017), Jharkhand (2014) and Uttar Pradesh (2017) Considered an expert on parliamentary select committees, having chaired 12 of them including the crucial Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2015 Presented three private member bills: The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2016, The Vexatious Litigation (Prevention) Bill, 2016 and The High Courts (Use of Official Languages) Bill, 2016 Challenges & Opportunities: Removing perception of ministry circumventing parliamentary process through various memorandums Objections to the draft environment impact assessment (EIA) Concerns over township planning in the fragile Andaman and Nicobar Islands & mining in Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo Arand forests Possible amendments to Wildlife Protection Act 1972 & Forest (Conservation) Act 1980

Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat & former Cabinet minister in Gujarat state government Chairman, Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (19982001) Capabilities: Handled the crisis emanating from the Narmada river development episode as the concerned minister Challenges & Opportunities: Promote allied farm activities for enhancing farmers' income Addressing fodder shortages & high prices of fodder Development of infrastructure to encourage dairying and fishery processing

G KISHAN REDDY Minister of Culture; Minister of Tourism; and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region

ANURAG SINGH THAKUR Minister of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports

Four time elected Lok Sabha Member from Hamirpur

Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying

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Planning of road and inland waterways transport in the North Eastern Region

Background & Experience:

PARSHOTTAM RUPALA

Background & Experience: Former Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare

Awarded the best child friendly legislator award in the AP Assembly

by UNICEF Won medal by Union of Bulgarian Commandos for his contribution towards Global Peace at Sophia in Bulgaria Worked as Vice Chairman, Afro Asia Youth Council Challenges & Opportunities: Revival of tourism industry, travel guidelines for foreigners Promote the NLCPR Scheme to fill up the gap in infrastructure sector of the North East Region

Background & Experience: Lok Sabha MP representing Secunderabad Former MoS (Home Affairs) National President, BJYM (20022004) State BJP President, Telangana (2016-2018) Viewed as party’s face in Telangana Capabilities: Organised & led the 22-day Telangana "Poru Yatra"– a 3,500kilometre (2,200 mi) journey through 986 villages and 88 assembly constituencies

Former MoS for Finance & Corporate Affairs Former President, BCCI & Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Youngest to be appointed Chief Whip in Lok Sabha (16th Lok Sabha) Commissioned as regular officer in the Territorial Army as a Lieutenant of the 124 Sikh Regiment Capabilities: As National President of BJYM for three consecutive terms, Thakur led initiatives such as Rashtriya Ekta Yatra, Shaheed Shradhanjali Yatra, Sansad Ghirav etc Started the Sansad Star Khel Mahakumbh, an initiative towards identifying sports talent at grassroot

level that witnessed participation of 25,000 youth across Basketball, Volleyball, Football, Kabaddi & Cricket Credited for building the iconic Dharamshala Cricket Stadium, one of the most picturesque stadiums in the world Challenges & Opportunities: Creating awareness about impact of doping & substance abuse among athletes through National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA)

RAMCHANDRA PRASAD SINGH Minister of Steel

Increase in allocation for sports activities in budget (current allocation of Rs. 2596.14 crore for the financial year 2021-22 is a reduction of Rs. 230.78 crore from previous year) Regulating the fantasy sports & legalizing the betting market

GIRIRAJ SINGH Ministry of Rural Development; Ministry of Panchayati Raj

Background & Experience: MP from Begusarai Parliamentary constituency Former Cabinet Minister of newly formed Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Former state minister of Cooperative, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Resources Development in the Government of Bihar Former Union Minister of State, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Capabilities: Launched the Online Course Mobile App “Matsya Setu” for fish farmers Reviewed progress of SVAMITVA Scheme and e-Panchayat Programmes Challenges & Opportunities: Ensuring that digital, optical fibre networks reach every village & panchayat in India Development of roads connecting the remotest of villages

A UP cadre IAS officer and former Principal Secretary to the Bihar CM, R P Singh’s career from bureaucracy to politics has been a momentous one.

Currently, the National President of the JD(U), he has served over 25 years in various capacities during his administrative tenure. He holds a BA (Hons) in History from Patna University and MA in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University. As he acquaints himself in his new role, RCP Singh will be acutely aware of the steel super cycle that the country is poised to ride on. It comes at a time when domestic players are gearing up for the start of a new CAPEX cycle. India’s steel exports are also expected to do well in the next few years given that international prices are premium to domestic prices. The country’s crude steel output grew 46.9% to 9.2 mn tonnes in May and 300 mn tonnes of capacity by 2030-31. With the government’s Aatmanirbhar-led PLI scheme of 4-15% for the sector, India’s role in the global steel market is set to rise. However, the sector has been plagued by accusations of cartelization by certain firms and RCP Singh will look to resolve these concerns. The NITI Aayog has also indicated introduction of digital technologies could improve the efficiency and output of the sector.

The trajectory of carbon reduction for the steel industry is likely to be gradual so the ministry is expected to upgrade the old blast furnaces that are being used and remedy the lack of consolidation in the sector.

VIRENDRA KUMAR Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Seven-time MP from Madhya Pradesh’s Tikamgarh and prominent Dalit leader, Virendra Kumar has been handed the portfolio of Social Justice and Empowerment in the recent cabinet re-shuffle. He was earlier the MoS for Women and Child Development & Minority Affairs. Kumar played an instrumental role in the Gau-Seva Sangh Sanstha in Sagar in Madhya Pradesh for cow protection and has worked in numerous grassroots initiatives. He has been part of the committees on Labour and Welfare, and Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In his new role, Kumar will be expected to effectively implement the Awas Yojana, Ujwala Yojana and Ayushman Bharat and ensure it reaches every deserving & eligible household. His ministry’s focus will also be on the introduction of schemes for the differently-abled people. Apart from the social welfare measures, Kumar will also oversee the contentious Maratha reservation case and finalise on a new list of Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBC).

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

NEW DIPLOMATIC ENGAGEMENTS WITH INDONESIA

BY AMBASSADOR MANOJ K BHARTI

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

BY THE BRIDGE PROJECT WITH SHRI MANOJ. K BHARTI, AMBASSADOR OF INDIA TO INDONESIA

THE BRIDGE PROJECT’S NEW AGE DEVELOPMENT AND DIPLOMACY SERIES UNPACKS NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN THE FIELD OF FOREIGN POLICY AND GLOBAL COOPERATION. THE FIRST EPISODE OF THIS SERIES FEATURED HIS EXCELLENCY AMBASSADOR MANOJ K. BHARTI, A SEASONED DIPLOMAT WITH YEARS OF EXPERIENCE CUTTING ACROSS THE DOMAINS OF FOREIGN POLICY, TRADE, COMMERCE AND TECHNOLOGY. HE ASSUMED CHARGE AS THE AMBASSADOR OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA IN INDONESIA IN THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR. HE IS AN OFFICER OF THE 1988 BATCH OF THE INDIAN FOREIGN SERVICE. THE PODCAST DEALS WITH TOPICS LIKE INDIA'S DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP AND DIPLOMATIC ENGAGEMENTS WITH INDONESIA, ROLE OF YOUTH, INDIA'S NATIONAL LEVEL INITIATIVES, CITY LEVEL GOVERNMENTS AND HOW THE PRIVATE SECTOR CAN BE LEVERAGED IN INDIA’S DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS. CARL JAISON, CO-FOUNDER OF THE BRIDGE PROJECT CAUGHT UP WITH AMBASSADOR BHARTI. Carl: What has been the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on diplomacy?

Ambassador Bharti: One of the main jobs of a diplomat is to maintain and nurture relationships that is done primarily through meetings, exchanges, visits and addressing gatherings of people. During the pandemic, this has been very hard to maintain as there were many restrictions. I made it a point to move to different regions and provinces of SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Indonesia on a regular basis during those months before the peak period in the country. One of the direct impacts has been my inability to meet with younger people and exchange ideas with them.

There have been other restrictions also in meeting dignitaries, different ministers, different leaders of society.

I would say that in the current phase of Indonesia's third wave, it is quite a challenging task for a diplomat to operate. There are only certain things that

can be done.

Carl: What’s the role of the ED & States Division of the MEA that you had headed?

Ambassador Bharti: The whole thinking behind the creation of this new division was to implement the new reality that countries do not relate to each other so much on political basis these days but the relations are based on economic considerations. There was a need to spread this notion in different parts of the government of India itself to emphasize that foreign ministry in India is gearing to the new realities of diplomacy in the world and it really served a very useful purpose after a few years. Three years ago, when Sushma Swaraj was our External Affairs Minister, the thinking was that in our economic diplomacy due importance is to be given to the role of states, their economic strengths, and the need to link them with foreign businesses, foreign governments, foreign provincial governments etc.

The main idea was to interact with the state’s stakeholders wishing to set up links with foreign countries and businesses.

Simultaneously, the States Division and Ministry of External Affairs started releasing special funds to different Embassies who projected that they could do states’ promotion in their host country. Special funds were provided to those missions and Embassies for bringing out those connections into focus and getting some results out of these initiatives.

Carl: What was the level of engagement with India’s Embassies and Consulates abroad for this division?

Ambassador Bharti: I can give you an example. Suppose, Indonesia would like to see a particular investment in food and management systems. There is a company which we have found which wants to invest in India. The Embassy will need to tie up with the local authorities, chamber of commerce or business leaders or government ministries in that particular state. Earlier, this work used to be left at the central government level but with the new change it has become much more effective in reaching out to the people concerned on the ground. It's quite fascinating and something which I guess these local level stakeholders have been hoping for. There are economic imbalances among states so this is a great

opportunity to develop. Another interesting development in the economic diplomacy sphere is how India can push for some of its national level initiatives like Digital India, Make in India and how this can be leveraged to other likeminded partners and countries. When we started this initiative, Indonesia has been on an aggressive path with their policy of industrialization for the aims that are similar to India. There are certain stages where both the countries have fallen behind, so if we can leapfrog and get into the 21st century industrialization, we can catch up with the world. We have this platform ready with e-currency, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. We need to bring our own strengths on the table and see how we can join hands with each other to further our progress.

Another example in this regard is cooperation in solar energy. We have been telling the Government of Indonesia to join the International Solar Alliance since the inception of the ISA program. We have found recently that the Government of Indonesia is quite receptive to the idea of taking the benefit of joining the International Solar Alliance and hopefully things will move in this direction.

Carl: Are there any opportunities for the Embassy to provide a platform for Indian startups and companies to exchange their knowledge and expertise in the solar energy sphere?

Ambassador Bharti: In this particular case, the Embassy can only advertise by being a springboard for advertisement of these capabilities and ideas at central and provincial level. I have been giving leaders this information about the Indian strength in solar energy and encouraging them to inform the Indian Embassy while taking up solo projects so that we can bring them in touch with the stakeholders and large players in India who can do the job for them.

Solar energy is still a field here which is not in the private hands. It has to be done through the government and unless the government issues a tender for a particular project or agrees for a particular project, there is no opportunity. So, in a way, I have taken up the initial step and we are waiting for responses from the Government of Indonesia and provincial governments.

There are a large number of Indian owned or India related companies in Indonesia and quite a large number of them have already started solar electrification of their manufacturing plants. A couple of months ago, I was in Sumatra and I went to a gloves manufacturing facility which is Asia’s largest surgical gloves manufacturing facility owned by an Indian company.

They have already set up their solar electrification plant and it is running pretty well.

Carl: What are some of the special initiatives that the Embassy organizes with the city level or provincial level governments which will help implement projects?

Ambassador Bharti: There are certain Indonesian cities which have sister city agreements with Indian cities like Vijayawada. The Embassy is actively engaged in promoting the avenues of increasing contact between two states or two cities. This is mostly from the point of view of people-to-people interaction, tourism promotion, promotion of ideas and exchange of young people. Youth exchange is a very good possibility of enhancing our own tourist circuits like the Ramayana circuit, Buddhist circuit etc. There is also a special area of tourism called medical tourism. India’s medical facilities are well known and highly rated in Indonesia. So all these are being taken as guidelines as to which countries should have sister relationships with which country and which province in Indonesia should be considered for such arrangements with its Indian counterparts. I would say that we have done some quite basic work. These are never-ending procedures and Uttarakhand is a good example where we have got sister city status with Bali Island and we hope that after this COVID19 period, there will be much more effective exchange of people and ideas.

Carl: How can you foster the study and understanding of India amongst the Indonesian public?

Ambassador Bharti: In fact, Study in India, training, and opportunities are some of the most vibrant features of our bilateral relationship. We have some special arrangements with ASEAN countries in general and Indonesia in particular. One of the recent ideas which was promoted by Prime Minister Modi

was a doctoral fellowship in India by ASEAN countries. One thousand scholarships were provided to ASEAN countries for getting a higher level Master’s degree and PhD level expertise in one of India’s 23 IITs. If you look at the population wise data, Indonesian population is almost half of the ASEAN’s population. So nearly 500 odd scholarships under this Doctoral fellowship in India are available to Indonesian citizens. Similarly, there is a program called ‘Study in India’ program under which different universities offer from 25 to 100 scholarships for students from Indonesia for studies in India at undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD level studies. These can be in different fields, not only limited to engineering but business, commerce, humanities, law, management, etc.

The third area of study for young people in Indonesia is in the area of culture in which there are about 22 scholarships facilitated by ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) and these are extremely popular in Indonesia. We have a good opportunity for training in India, training of young professionals who are between the age group of 2545 years and those who have done five years of professional working in any field.

These are called ITEC scholarshipsIndian Technical and Economic Cooperation under which 40 scholarships are available for Indonesian citizens every year. India has been on this program since 1964 and billions of dollars have already been spent.

These ITEC scholarships are extremely valuable because once a candidate is selected from Indonesia he or she does not have to spend even one penny for international travel, tuition fee, lodging charges as everything is covered under this scholarship. Even in COVID-19 times, we have started ITEC courses in virtual mode and I have been told that these courses are running well and people are still quite satisfied with this training.

Carl: What role does the Embassy play in the facilitation of Indian businesses coming into Indonesia?

Ambassador Bharti: CII office was set up just before the COVID period. There could have been more vibrancy in the activities of CII. Indian companies are always welcome and we have been SEASONAL MAGAZINE

telling them that we are here to help them, and hold their hand in their initial days in Indonesia. We have a few examples of initiatives taken in this field of pharmaceuticals where COVIDrelated drugs have been licensed to the Indian companies and these companies have started tieing up with Indonesian counterparts. GMR has also entered the tender process for the creation of a new airport on Sumatra Island. These are still initial days but we have helped extensively in getting in touch with the business leaders. When I had gone to meet with the Governor of Sumatra, I had taken this representative of GMR with me. He had a first-hand interaction with the governor which helped him a lot in finally getting to know about the business context and getting to this stage where they are about to share a RFP. I would say the pandemic has stunted our desired growth in this area but we are still at it and we welcome any Indian company either startup or an established company to Indonesia.

Carl: Is there a recognition that although trade relationships have ballooned over the years, the infrastructure aspect needs greater attention?

Ambassador Bharti: Now let me start by giving some background. There is an India-Indonesia Infrastructure Forum which is aimed at enhancing Indian investment in the infrastructure sector in Indonesia. Two editions of this forum were held in 2018 and 2019 which saw the participation of nearly 30 Indian companies. The CEOs of Indian SEASONAL MAGAZINE

companies in the areas of port development, power, airport, water resources, management, hospital management system, health services industry and IT solutions came forward for infrastructure projects. Leading Indian companies like BHEL, Adani, Tata Power, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Jet Airways amongst other companies had participated in these infrastructure forums. To add to these initiatives, there is a line of credit of one billion dollars extended by the Government of India to ASEAN countries for development of infrastructure projects and we have given these facts to the Government of Indonesia that any infrastructure related project can be covered under this line of credit. These are very important elements of development of infrastructure projects.

We had signed an MOU on technical cooperation in the railway sector when Prime Minister Modi visited Indonesia in May 2018. We still have to utilize this particular MOU because more work needs to be done but in the air services sector, a lot of work is awaiting at the end of this pandemic period. Earlier, there

We had signed an MOU on technical cooperation in the railway sector when Prime Minister Modi visited Indonesia in May 2018. We still have to utilize this particular MOU because more work needs to be done but in the air services sector, a lot of work is awaiting at the end of this pandemic period.

used to be a direct Air India flight between India and Indonesia which was withdrawn about 10-12 years ago. Just before the pandemic, Air India and Indigo had announced their destinations in Bali and Jakarta in the last quarter of 2019 but it could not be initiated due to the pandemic. I have been informed that Indigo and Tata Vistara have been designated as India’s scheduled carriers to operate this air services agreement as soon as this situation improves. When I met the Tourism Minister, we had decided that, when the situation permits, we will start air linkages between Bali and India and Jakarta and India. The Indonesian idea is to restart Bali as a tourism hub and India was quite keen to join hands with them. There has been a lot of discussion on infrastructure linkage between Andaman and Nicobar island and Aceh province. Many people do not realise that Andaman and Nicobar Island is the southern tip of India and the northernmost tip of Indonesia Aceh province is only 193 kilometres apart. A joint task force was set up in 2018 between the two countries on development of connectivity between Aceh and Andaman and Nicobar Island.

This got derailed due to the Covid situation.

Carl: What are the ways in which the Embassy can promote youth exchanges and engagements.

What are your thoughts?

Ambassador Bharti: I’ll end with a passionate appeal to the youth in India and Indonesia. Both have to realise the uniqueness of our countries. We share the same democratic credentials, emphasis on freedom of press, and human rights. There is a need for youth to come together and set up their private links without taking the Government into the picture. They can create social media forums and create this awareness as to what is the role that the youth of India and Indonesia can play in safeguarding democracy in the world. The youth need to come together and spread this message that the democratic system is the best system to rule over people. I see a large role being played by the youth of these two countries in the coming days with the help of social media. The Embassy is always open to new ideas and suggestions.

(Transcript compiled by Prarthana Puthran, Research Associate, The Bridge Project)

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As the final batches of Q4 results roll in, one thing is evident – FY’21 is going down in the history of India Inc as the year of the make-or-break litmus test. Because, this was the year that bore the whole brunt of the pandemic’s first wave, and gave ultimatum to companies to adapt rapidly or perish. Only firms that could adapt fast to the new operational realities like Work-From-Home and digitalization survived. And towards the end of this tumultuous fiscal, when things were slowly limping back to normal, came the unprecedented second wave that shook India to the core. While large companies witnessed loss of employee lives in hundreds, mid to small companies had it in dozens. While the second wave was not fully contained in Q4, most companies’ operations were seriously hit in February and March, and gave the perfect test for the newly adopted corporate disaster coping mechanisms put in place after the first wave. Companies and stocks that survived and rebounded in FY’21 and especially in Q4 are operations that need to be taken most seriously, from many angles including investment, employment, economic contribution, sustainability, CSR maintainability and more. Seasonal Magazine brings you a cross-section of such noteworthy performances as well as some alarming falls from expectations.

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EMBASSY OFFICE SALES UP, REIT STOCK REBOUNDS

Jitu Virwani, CMD, Embassy Group

Embassy Office Parks REIT, India's first listed Real Estate Investment Trust, continued its sales momentum in the fourth quarter, the end of which saw the second wave emerge in its key markets including Bengaluru. Embassy Office Parks' Consolidated March 2021 Net Sales has come in at Rs 763.75 crore, which is up by an impressive 35.78% Y-o-Y from Rs. 562.49 crore in March 2020. The company that specializes in lease rentals from IT Parks and other commercial spaces, fared well in profits too at EBITDA level. EBITDA stood at Rs. 463.77 crore in March 2021 up 62.95% from Rs. 284.61 crore in March 2020. However, Quarterly Net Profit came in at at Rs. 46.75 crore in March 2021 down 19.12% from Rs. 57.81 crore in March 2020.

Consequently, Embassy Office Parks EPS has decreased to Rs. 0.49 in March 2021 from Rs. 0.75 in March 2020.

The company's listed REIT stock has made a smart recovery post the second wave fall in stock market.

Embassy Office Parks has zoomed from a low of Rs. 285 to a recent high of Rs. 360 and is now within striking distance of its 52 Week High at Rs. 395.

SURYODAY SFB TURNS TO LOSS, FALLS 30% SINCE ITS MARCH IPO Suryoday Small Finance Bank (SFB) has turned to be a shockingly bad investment for its IPO investors. The new generation small bank that focuses on urban poor, has seen its stock losing 30% since its March IPO. Suryoday SFB reported standalone quarterly numbers recently and this seems to be the reason for the continuos fall since its recent listing. Net Interest Income (NII) has come in at Rs 57.22 crore in March 2021 which is down 55.91% from Rs. 129.77 crore in March 2020. Even more critically, the bank recorded a Quarterly Net Loss at Rs. 43.01 crore in March 2021, which is down 177.84% from Rs. 15.48 crore in March 2020. The Navi Mumbai based lender also made an Operating Loss of Rs. 5.23 crore in March 2021 which is down 107.44% from Rs. 70.33 crore in March 2020. Suryoday SFB had attracted investments from several marquee international institutional investors in its earlier growth phase, some of whom pared their stakes in the IPO. It is likely that its focus on urban microfinance has become a burden now, as the urban poor was the most seriously affected segment during the second wave of the pandemic in India.

Baskar Babu Ramachandran MD & CEO, Suryoday Small Finance Bank

AVANTI FEEDS SALES UP BY OVER 6% STOCK CONTINUES TO OUTPERFORM Listed major in fish feeds and shrimpt exports, Avanti Feeds has reported consolidated quarterly net sales at Rs 1,098.11 crore in March 2021 up 6.12% from Rs. 1,034.81 crore in March 2020. But due to the challenging pandemic environment, consolidated quarterly net profit at Rs. 69.69 crore in fourth quarter was down 19.87% from Rs. 86.98 crore in March 2020. EBITDA stood at Rs. 103.70 crore in March 2021, which was down 23.9% from Rs. 136.26 crore in March 2020.

Reflecting this, Avanti Feeds' EPS has decreased to Rs. 5.12 in March 2021 from Rs. 6.38 in March 2020. Avanti Feeds which has been one of the best all-time performers in the Indian stock market, continued its outperformance post the second wave, rising 65% in the year-to-date.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Alluri Indra Kumar, CMD, Avanti Feeds Ltd

GIC RE MAKES A POSITIVE TURNAROUND, INVESTMENT INCOME ZOOMS General Insurance Corporation of India has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,991.59 crore for the financial year 2020-21. The state-owned reinsurer had posted a loss of Rs 186.46 crore in 2019-20. On a standalone basis, it posted a profit after tax of Rs 1,920.44 crore for FY21 as against a loss of Rs 359.10 crore a year ago, according to a company statement. It said that despite the handsome performance in FY21, the pandemic has created "significant uncertainties" on the growth front. The gross premium collected in FY202021 went down to Rs 47,014 crore, from Rs 51,030 crore in the previous financial year, while the net premium was also down. The incurred claims also reduced to Rs 36,853 crore in the reporting fiscal, down from Rs 43,035 crore in the previous fiscal, the company said in a statement. Incurred claims ratio improved to 92.4 per cent as of March 31, 2021, from 97.5 per cent 12 months ago, while the underwriting loss also improved to Rs 5,488 crore from Rs 6,367 crore.

Investment income zoomed to Rs 8,820.86 crore for the year ended March 2021 as compared to the previous financial year's Rs 7,125.48 crore. The solvency ratio improved to 1.74 as on March 31 this year, from 1.53 in the year-ago period.

Its total assets also saw a sharp rise to Rs 1,34,661.22 crore, compared with Rs 1,16,196.20 crore as of March 31, 2020.

It flagged concerns with regard to the pandemic's impact on

IRCTC'S NET PROFIT DECLINES 23%, EXPECTED TO BOUNCEBACK SOON Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) has reported a 23 per cent decline in its profit after tax to Rs 103.78 crore for the March 2021 quarter, probably due to the rapidly declining passenger density during the end of the fourth quarter due to the the then emerging second wave. The company had reported a profit after tax (PAT) from continuing operations of Rs 135.14 crore for the corresponding quarter a year ago, according to a regulatory filing to the BSE. IRCTC is the only entity authorised by the Indian Railways to provide catering services, online railway tickets and packaged drinking water at railway stations and trains in India. Total revenue dropped in January-March 2021 to Rs 358.25 crore, against Rs 595.70 crore in the year-ago period.

Rajni Hasija, CMD, IRCTC However, total expenses decreased to Rs 216.17 crore, from Rs 402.90 crore a year ago. And with the second wave passing from most states across India, IRCTC's revenue and profits are expected to make a rapid turnaround to growth.

business and economic growth and its resultant impact on premium volume, particularly from small and medium industries. "There could be some shrinkage of purchase of insurance with a potential for cascading effect on reinsurance. The specialty classes of business such as events, travel, credit, surety, mortgage, agriculture, directors and officers, and business interruption are expected to get adversely affected," it said. From an operational perspective, business could continue essentially through work from home across the globe by the insurers, intermediaries and reinsurers, the statement said. The global economic growth is a key driver for insurance markets which feed into reinsurance sector, it said. From an Indian perspective, the company said as the insurers get listed and market consolidates in the backdrop of declining interest rates, the pricing discipline in the market can be expected to strengthen in the medium to long term.

Mr. Devesh Srivastava, CMD, GIC Re

ASTER DM SALES UP MARGINALLY, NET PROFIT DOWN AROUND 20% Like some of its peers, leading hospital chain Aster DM Healthcare had a sluggish fourth quarter, owing to the pandemic challenges that had started hitting hospitals by the end of Q4 itself. Aster DM reported consolidated quarterly sales at Rs 2,390.88 crore in March 2021 up 3.89% from Rs. 2,301.37 crore in March 2020. Quarterly Net Profit at Rs. 105.39 crore in fourth quarter was down by 19.62% from Rs. 131.11 crore in March 2020. EBITDA stood at Rs. 350.89 crore in March 2021, which was down 18.5% from Rs. 430.53 crore in March 2020. Aster DM Health's EPS has decreased to Rs. 2.12 in March 2021 from Rs. 2.61 in March 2020. The company owns Kochi's Aster Medcity, which is one of India's largest and finest healthcare facilities.

Azad Moopen, Chairman, Aster DM

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

MAZAGON DOCK PROFIT ZOOMS 247% STOCK MAKES HANDSOME GAINS FROM IPO Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders has reported consolidated quarterly numbers for the fourth quarter. The country's largest shipyard, which is into defence shipbuilding and repairs, has reported Net Sales at Rs 1,105.11 crore in March 2021 which is up 5.93% from Rs. 1,043.25 crore in March 2020.

But Mazagon Dock's Quarterly Net Profit at Rs. 259.14 crore in March 2021 has zoomed 247% from Rs. 74.68 crore in March 2020. EBITDA also zoomed to Rs. 316.38 crore in March 2021 up 199.32% from Rs. 105.70 crore in March 2020. Consequently, Mazagon Dock EPS has soared to Rs. 12.85 in March 2021 from Rs. 3.70 in March 2020. Technically, this is Mazagon Dock's first full quarter after its IPO and getting listed in early OCtober last year. The stock has made handsome gains recently, rising from a low of Rs. 145 to a high of Rs. 296.

BANDHAN BANK PROFIT DIVES, INTEREST INCOME UP MODESTLY New generation universal lender, Bandhan Bank, has reported a difficult fourth quarter with Quarterly Standalone Net Profit at Rs. 103.03 crore in March 2021, which is down 80.08% from Rs. 517.29 crore in March 2020. However, the Kolkata based bank recorded a Standalone Operating Profit of Rs. 1,729.48 crore in March 2021 which is up 13.73% from Rs. 1,520.69 crore in March 2020, signalling greater operational efficiencies. The former microfinancing institution also fared better in its total lending activity as seen from its Standalone March 2021 Net Interest Income (NII) at Rs 1,757.00 crore, which is up modestly at 4.58% Y-o-Y. Despite turning to a universal bank, and offering almost all services like regular banks, Bandhan's mainstay continues to be in microfinance, where it has significant competencies.

The deep dive in profits is likely due to how the microfinance business was affected towards the end of fourth quarter due to the then emerging second wave of the pandemic. Such pressure on profits was seen across most microfinance institutions and small finance banks in Q4.

Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, MD & CEO, Bandhan Bank

Narayan Prasad, CMD, Mazagon Dock

CAN FIN HOMES Q4 PROFIT UP, STOCK RESUMES UPTREND AGAIN Can Fin Homes, the mid-sized housing finance firm, has reported standalone quarterly numbers. Promoted by Canara Bank for long, its Quarterly Net Profit at Rs. 102.57 crore in March 2021 is up by an impressive 12.82% from Rs. 90.91 crore in March 2020. Consequently, Can Fin Homes' EPS has increased to Rs. 7.70 in March 2021 from Rs. 6.83 in March 2020.

However, Can Fin Homes' EBITDA stood at Rs. 419.28 crore in March 2021 which is down 8.51% from Rs. 458.29 crore in March 2020. Like much of its peers, the home financier's Net Sales at Rs 467.27 crore in March 2021 is down 11.64% from Rs. 528.82 crore in March 2020. The sector has been undergoing stress since the pandemic began as housing projects and homebuyers struggle to cope up with the agreed upon schedules. However, Can Fin is one of the better performing companies in the sector, both in growth and asset quality. Reflecting this, the stock has zoomed over 78% in year-to-date and is again resuming its uptrend after the second wave of the pandemic.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

GIRISH KOUSGI, MD, Can Fin Homes

GIC HOUSING FINANCE Q4 NET SOARS 202% STOCK SURGES 128% IN YEAR-TO-DATE GIC Housing Finance has recorded a 201.7% jump in net profit to Rs 79.70 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 26.42 crore in Q4 FY20. The move surprised the market which responded by sending the stock to a 20% upper circuit on the announcement. Profit before tax also soared 166.8% to Rs 114.49 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 42.92 crore in Q4 FY20. For the whole fiscal, GIC Housing Finance posted a 131.5% rise in net profit to Rs 105.57 crore in the year ended March 2021 (FY21) from Rs 45.61 crore posted in the year ended March 2020 (FY20). The board has recommended dividend at 40% or Rs. 4 per equity share of Rs. 10 each, which still translates to a healthy dividend yield of over 1% at current prices which is near its 52-Week High. However, the company is yet to come back to a significant growth phase on the revenue front, much like its peers, due to sluggish home sales in the country. GIC Housing Finance reported a 3.1% decline in total income to Rs 307.22 crore in Q4 FY21 as against Rs 317.08 crore in Q4 FY20. For the full year, total income fell 1.2% to Rs 1240.33 crore in FY21 over FY20. GIC Housing Finance is engaged in the housing finance business, with its primary activity being providing housing loans to individuals and entities engaged in construction of houses or flats for residential purposes.

CSB BANK TURNS TO PROFIT IN Q4, STOCK UPS 116% IN YEAR-TO-DATE CSB Bank, which was taken over by the Indian entity of Canadian financial conglomerate, Fairfax, has empatically turned around to profits in Q4. During the last quarter ended March of FY21, the lender reported a net profit of Rs 42.89 crore against a loss of Rs 59.70 crore in the same quarter of 201920. Total income during the reported quarter grew to Rs 609.45 crore as against Rs 475.49 crore in the same period a year ago. Interest income moved up by 28 per cent to Rs 497 crore.

With such a stellar Q4, CSB Bank was also able to report its highest-ever annual net profit of Rs 218 crore in FY21. This was against a modest profit of Rs 12.72 crore in FY20, which is n increase of 1,617 per cent. The full-year income too increased to Rs 2,273.11 crore in FY21 from Rs 1,731.50 crore in FY20. Interest income during the year was at Rs 1,872 crore as against Rs 1,510 crore. Bank's asset quality improved as the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) fell to 2.68 per cent of the gross advances as of March 31, 2021 as against 3.54 per cent by end of March 2020. In absolute value, the gross NPAs or bad loans amounted to Rs 393.49 crore, compared with Rs 409.43 crore a year ago. Net NPAs also fell to 1.17 per cent (Rs 168.81 crore) from 1.91 per cent (Rs 216.94 crore). Provisions for bad loans and contingencies were down in Q4FY21 at Rs 70.95 crore as compared with Rs 84.32 crore parked aside in the year-ago period. CSB Bank said its advances grew by 27 per cent mainly contributed by gold loan growth of 61 per cent. Deposits at end of March this year grew to Rs 19,140 crore as against Rs 15,791 crore a year ago, while the advances were up at Rs 14,438 crore as against Rs 11,366 crore.

Total business has grown by Rs 6,421 crore or by 24 per cent year-on-year, it said, adding, thus in the centenary year the bank has grown a fourth of the total business it grew in past 99 years. The lender said it has a comfortable liquidity position with liquidity coverage ratio of 210.39 per cent which is well above the RBI requirement. The bank also opened 101 branches in this 101st year of existence. The bank has guided that gold loans, two wheeler loans, agri loans, MSME abd SME loans will continue to be the main focus areas of the bank.

While digital will be the main mantra, the bank also plans to add close to 200 branches to its network in FY22 so that there is proper mix of brick and click banking.

C.V.R. Rajendran, CEO, CSB

G Sobha Reddy, MD, GIC HOUSING FINANCE SEASONAL MAGAZINE

NBCC PROFITS MORE THAN DOUBLES IN FY'21 STOCK SOARS 2.7 TIMES IN YEAR-TO-DATE Leading state-owned construction firm NBCC has concluded FY'20 by recording a net profit of Rs 236.24 crore as against Rs 99.86 crore in 201920. This impressive performance in the bottomline is despite the total income falling to Rs 7,012.35 crore in 2020-21 from Rs 8,292.99 crore in the previous year, due to the raging pandemic and long lockdowns. In the fourth quarter, NBCC posted a flat consolidated net profit of Rs 83.30 crore, as against net profit of Rs 83.77 crore in the corresponding year-ago period. However, it fared better in total income in Q4, which rose to Rs 2,706.80 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 2,651.43 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

NBCC stock has soared by 2.7 times during the past twelve months from a 52-Week Low of Rs. 22.20 to a recent 52-Week High of Rs. 59.80.

However, the stock is still far from its all time high of Rs. 140 levels achieved in November 2017.

Recently NBCC was edged past by Suraksha Group in a close bid for the beleaguered Jaypee Infratech that owns the Yamuna Expressway and huge land parcels on both sides of it. However, most homebuyers in Jaypee’s projects had preferred NBCC for its high execution capabilities. It is not clear whether NBCC will move court against their narrow loss in the bid.

UNION BANK OF INDIA'S NII UP 89%, POSITIVE TURNAROUND IN BOTTOMLINE

Rajkiran Rai G, MD & CEO, Union Bank of India Union Bank of India, the Mumbai based leading public sector lender, has empatically turned around to profits in the fourt quarter. UBI's Consolidated March 2021 Net Interest Income (NII) came in at Rs 5,542.85 crore, which is up by 89.22% Y-o-Y from Rs. 2929.28 crore in March 2020.. The bottomline turned to gree, with Union Bank of India posting a Quarterly Net Profit of Rs. 1,269.18 crore in March 2021, from Rs. 2,713.03 crore in losses in March 2020. Consequently, Union Bank's EPS has increased to Rs. 1.98 in March 2021 from Rs. - 7.93 in March 2020. Signalling that the turnaround is also due to better operational efficiencies, UBI's Operating Profit came in at Rs. 5,205.18 crore in March 2021, which is up by 96.08% from Rs. 2,654.65 crore in March 2020.

After last year's amalgamation of peer PSU banks, Corporation Bank and Andhra Bank, into Union Bank, the combined entitiy is the fifth largest PSU bank in terms of branch network with over 9500 branches.

Four of these are located overseas in Hong Kong, Dubai, Antwerp, and Sydney. UBI also has representative offices at Shanghai, Beijing and Abu Dhabi. UBI operates in the United Kingdom through its wholly owned subsidiary, Union Bank of India (UK).

NEW INDIA ASSURANCE SALES UP 58%, NET PROFIT ALMOST DOUBLES

P K Gupta, CMD, NBCC SEASONAL MAGAZINE

India's largest general insurer, New India Assurance (NIA), has reported a strong performance in the fourth quarter of last fiscal.

NIA's Consolidated March 2021 Net Sales came in at Rs 538.44 crore, up 58.02% Y-o-Y, from Rs. 340.75 crore in March 2020.

The bottomline fared even better at New India Assurance with Quarterly Net Profit coming in at Rs. 232.96 crore in March 2021, which is up by 96.67% from Rs. 118.45 crore in March 2020.

Consequently, NIA's EPS has increased to Rs. 1.41 in March 2021 from Rs. 0.72 in March 2020, which bodes well for the stock of this only public sector general insurer so far. New India

KALYAN JEWELLERS RECORDS ROBUST Q4, SALES UP 43%, NET PROFIT UP 54% Kalyan Jewellers, one of India's leading retail jewellery chains, which went for its IPO earlier this year, has recorded its first quarter as a listed entity in Q4 of last fiscal. The Kerala headquartered branded jewellery maker reported consolidated March 2021 Net Sales at Rs 3,056.60 crore, which is up by 42.78% Y-o-Y from Rs. 2,140.72 crore in March 2020. Quarterly Net Profit stood at Rs. 74.19 crore in March 2021, which is up by 54.2% from Rs. 48.11 crore in March 2020, at this gold & diamonds retailer with its footprint across India and Middle East. Consequently, Kalyan Jeweller EPS has increased to Rs. 0.87 in March 2021 from Rs. 0.57 in March 2020. Kalyan's EBITDA stood at Rs. 239.97 crore in March 2021 up 9.13% from Rs. 219.89 crore in March 2020. The stock has made a smart recovery since the waning of Covid's second wave, and is now trading at near IPO levels. Since gold is a core purchase in Indian weddings, and all other wedding related expenses have gone downward due to Covid restrictions, marriage related gold purchases are going up, and jewellers like Kalyan are experiencing this tailwind.

TS Kalyanaraman, CMD, Kalyan jewllers

Assurance's EBITDA stood at Rs. 324.37 crore in March 2021, which is up by 153.73% from Rs. 127.84 crore in March 2020.

Owing to the steadily improving performance, NIA's stock has nearly doubled from around Rs. 100 to nearly Rs. 200 in the year-to-date. New India Assurance is one of India's leading players in segments like health insurance and auto insurance.

Atul Sahai, CMD, NEW INDIA ASSURANCE

V-GUARD RECORDS ROBUST SALES IN Q4, NET PROFIT DOUBLES, STOCK TRENDS UP

Leading electrical, electronics & wiring brand, V-Guard Industries has reported a robust set of numbers for Q4 of last fiscal. The Kerala headquartered company's consolidated March 2021 Net Sales came in at Rs 855.20 crore, which is up by 58.04% Y-o-Y from Rs. 541.14 crore in March 2020.

The bottomline performance was even more impressive with Quarterly Net Profit more than doubling at Rs. 67.84 crore in March 2021 which is up by 110.82% from Rs. 32.18 crore in March 2020. Consequently, V-Guard Industries' EPS has increased to Rs. 1.58 in March 2021 from Rs. 0.75 in March 2020. V-Guard's EBITDA stood at Rs. 114.33 crore in March 2021 up 125.81% from Rs. 50.63 crore in March 2020. A long-term midcap wealth creator in the Indian market, V-Guard has steadily gone up in the year-to-date too, moving up from a 52-Week Low of Rs. 160 level to Rs. 285 level recently. Recently, SBI Mutual Fund had picked up a 1.1% stake in V-Guard.

NAZARA POSTS HEALTHY Q4, STOCK DOUBLES IN VALUE Nazara Technologies which had one of the most spectacular Initial Public Offerings of 2021, has posted a spectacular fourth quarter by way of sales and profits. The gaming startup, which was profitable for long, had pivoted a few years before its IPO through organic acquisitions which resulted in it turning to losses. But it has since then empatically turned around to profits, and Q4 is ample proof of where it can go. Nazara's consolidated March 2021 Net Sales is at Rs 123.38 crore, which is up by 41.7% Y-o-Y from Rs. 87.08 crore in March 2020. Quarterly Net Profit stood at Rs. 3.15 crore in March 2021 up 19.56% from Rs. 3.30 crore in March 2020, at this company backed by many high-flying investors including Big Bull Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. Consequently, Nazara's EPS has increased to Rs. 1.06 in March 2021 from Rs. 1.18 in March 2020. It's EBITDA stood at Rs. 11.62 crore in March 2021 up 68.65% from Rs. 6.89 crore in March 2020. The stock had doubled from its IPO period and is still trading at near double levels.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

hyam Srinivasan, MD & CEO, FEDERAL BANK

COCHIN SHIPYARD Q4 PROFIT SOARS STOCK SURGES BY 43% YEAR-TO-DATE Cochin Shipyard has recorded a strong performance in the fourth quarter despite the overhang of the second wave during Q4 end. Consolidated Revenues from operations grew 32% yoy to Rs. 1080 crore as ship building and ship repairing revenues were up by 25% and 85% yoy respectively.

EBITDA margins came in at 23.8%, which is up by 396 bps yoy on the account of lower employee cost and other expenses. Ship building EBIT margin stood at 28.9%, down 100bps yoy while ship repairing EBIT margin was at 30.8%, up 300bps yoy. The bottomline performance was the highlight of the PSU shipbuilder's fourth quarter, as Adjusted PAT grew by 63% yoy to Rs. 223 crore on account of higher EBITDA and higher other income. In order to meet the operational challenges facing the company due to the pandemic situation in Kerala, the company extended hours of operations by working in two shifts. This has impacted depreciation to the tune of Rs. 3.88 crore during the quarter. There was an Exceptional item of Rs 12.63 crore in respect of the Company's subsidiary Tebma Shipyards Ltd., representing reversal of inventory write down of Rs 1.89 crore and exceptional income in respect of ship building assistance of Rs. 10.75 crore. In compliance with the NCLT Order, Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) paid the bid amount for takeover of TSL on September 15, 2020, due to which TSL has become a wholly owned subsidiary of CSL. Cochin Shipyard continued to be a high dividend payer, with the board recommending a final dividend of Rs. 2.5 per share in addition to the interim dividend of Rs. 9 and Rs. 4 announced in Jan-21 and Feb-21 respectively.

Madhu S Nair, CMD, COCHIN SHIPYARD

FEDERAL BANK INCOME & PROFIT UP IN Q4, STOCK MORE THAN DOUBLES IN YTD Kerala headquartered leading private sector lender Federal Bank has reported Consolidated March 2021 Net Interest Income (NII) at Rs 1,512.65 crore, which is up 14.33% Y-o-Y, from Rs. 1323.11 crore in March 2020. Bucking the trend at some peers, the bank has also fared well in bottomline with Quarterly Net Profit at Rs. 521.24 crore in March 2021, which is up 58.41% from Rs. 329.04 crore in March 2020. Consequently, Federal Bank's EPS has increased to Rs. 2.61 in March 2021 from Rs. 1.65 in March 2020. However, Operating Profit came in at Rs. 928.38 crore in March 2021, which is down 5.01% from Rs. 977.34 crore in March 2020. The bank's stock has rallied smartly in the year-to-date rising from a low of Rs. 45.35 to a high of Rs. 92.50. The bank's board has approved a fund raise of Rs. 916 crore from IFC, and the bank has obtained RBI nod for the reappointment of Mr. Shyam Srinivasan as MD & CEO till September 22, 2024.

GRSE PROFITS GROW IN Q4 DIVIDEND YIELD AT 2.5% Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers has recorded a fourth quarter of mixed performance. GRSE's Quarterly Net Profit came in at Rs. 58.00 crore in March 2021, which is up by 16.74% from Rs. 49.69 crore in March 2020. Consequently, the EPS of the PSU shipbuilder has increased to Rs. 5.06 in March 2021 from Rs. 4.34 in March 2020. GRSE's EBITDA stood at Rs. 88.48 crore in March 2021 up modestly by 1.35% from Rs. 87.30 crore in March 2020. However, the Kolkata based shipbuilder focusing on defence sector faced falling sales in Q4. Standalone March 2021 Net Sales came in at Rs 398.83 crore, which is down 12.67% Y-o-Y from Rs. 456.69 crore in March 2020. The stock which got listed in October 2018 around Rs. 100 levels, has more than doubled since then to a current 52-Week High of Rs. 243. GRSE's dividend yield is also attractive which now stands at 2.50%.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

COAL INDIA Q4 PROFIT FALLS MARGINALLY, DIVIDEND YIELD NOW AT 10.68% Coal India, the PSU major, accounts for over 80% of domestic coal output. While the company is eyeing 1 billion tonnes of output by 2023-24, it had a sluggish FY'21 due to subdued demand due to the pandemic prevalence. Coal India reported around 24% decline in its consolidated net profit for the financial year 2020-21 at Rs 12,702 crore. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 16,700 crore in the previous year.

The public sector undertaking's sales also declined to Rs 82,710 crore in FY21 from Rs 89,373 crore in FY20. For the January-March quarter, the company's net profit declined marginally to Rs 4,589 crore from Rs 4,626 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Total income also fell to Rs 27,974 crore in January-March FY21 from Rs 29,821 crore a year ago. Coal India's production declined to 203.42 million tonnes during March quarter from 213.71 million tonnes in the year-ago period. Sales declined to Rs 24,511 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 25,597 in the March quarter of FY20. But offtake saw a marginal increase to 164.89 million tonnes from 164.33 million tonnes a year ago. Coal India, which is one India's top dividend payers, also declared a final dividend of Rs 3.50 per equity share. The current dividend yield of Coal India stands at an unbelievably high 10.68%.

Pramod Agrawal, CMD, Coal India

RAdm Vipin Kumar Saxena, CMD, GRSE

GEOJIT'S PROFIT RISE 163%, STOCK SOARS 175%

C J George, MD & CEO, Geojit Financial Services

Kochi based Geojit Financial Services has recorded a robust Q4 and financial year, with annual profits soaring 163% to touch Rs. 123 crore. The leading brokerage firm's fourth quarter profit nearly doubled at over 94% to reach Rs 36.8 crore from Rs 18.8 crore a year ago. Consolidated revenue in the reporting quarter has grown 48 per cent to Rs 122.56 crore from Rs 82.68 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal, while for the full year, consolidated revenue jumped 39 per cent to Rs 426.81 crore in FY21 from Rs 306.37 crore in FY20. For long a listed player, Geojit's stock too has soared in sync with this fundamental performance, rising by 175% in year-to-date. The company is a leding distributor of mutual fund SIPs, founded by stock market veteran CJ George and is also backed by global financial services giant BNP Paribas and celebrity investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. Based on the excellent fundamental performance, Geojit has declared a dividend of 350%, which translates to a high dividend yield of 3.73% even at the current prices which is near its 52-Week High. Apart from India, Geojit has strong presence in the GCC countries in Middle East. It has over 11,10,000 clients, served through 465 offices and has assets under custody and management worth over Rs 51,000 crore. To further diversify the client offerings and consolidate its presence, the Geojit board has approved a proposal to form an entity in Gift City, Ahmedabad to acquire an Asset Management Company (AMC) licence to function as an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) manager. Its GCC operations are carried out via joint ventures and partnerships such as Barjeel Geojit Financial Services UAE, BBK Geojit Securities Kuwait, and QBG Geojit Securities Oman and in Bahrain through a business partnership with Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

IDFC FIRST BANK Q4 PROFIT UP NEARLY 80%, STOCK TRADING UP BY 100% IN YEAR TO DATE

V. Vaidyanathan, IDFC, MD & CEO

IDFC First Bank, one of India's newest universal banks and born from the merger of IDFC Bank and Capital First has put up impressive fundamental and capital market performance.

In the fourth quarter, IDFC First Bank has recorded Net Interest Income (NII) at Rs 1,961.34 crore, which is up by 16.9% from Rs. 1677.75 crore in March 2020. Bottomline performance was even better with Quarterly Net Profit coming in at Rs. 136.93 crore in March 2021, which is up by 79.31% from Rs. 76.36 crore in March 2020. Better operational efficiences too were visible, with Operating Profit standing at Rs. 658.21 crore in March 2021, which is up 24% from Rs. 530.82 crore in March 2020. The stock of the private sector lender which is fast transforming to a retail bank from its earlier focus on wholesale infrastructure loans, also recorded a robust performance in the stock market, soaring as much as 166% in the year-to-date, and has since then corrected during the second wave, but still trading up by 100% from its 52-Week Low. Since the bank has completed a regulatory period of 5 years mandated by RBI, its promoter IDFC is free to exit its promoter status and this may result in IDFC reverse merging to IDFC First Bank resulting in one combined and financially stronger entity.

PNB HOUSING FINANCE TURNS AROUND TO PROFIT, RS.4000 CRORE SALE TO CARLYLE PENDING AT SAT PNB Housing Finance, the dedicated home financing company promoted by India's leading public sector lender, Punjab National Bank (PNB) has made a strong positive turnaround to profits in the fourth quarter. However, PNB Housing Finance's Consolidated March 2021 Net Sales came in at Rs 1,831.68 crore, down 5.9% Y-o-Y from Rs. 1,946.44 crore in March 2020. The bottomline turned to green emphatically, with Quarterly Net Profit coming in at Rs. 127.03 crore in March 2021, from a loss of Rs. 242.06 crore in March 2020.

Consequently, PNB Housing Finance's EPS has increased to Rs. 7.55 in March 2021 from Rs. - 14.39 in March 2020. The SEASONAL MAGAZINE

MANAPPURAM Q4 PROFIT GROWS ROBUSTLY STOCK UP 43%, PLANS IPO FOR MF UNIT

Manappuram Finance, the diversified NBFC and a leader in gold loans, has reported robust profits for Q4. Consolidated Quarterly Net Profit stood at at Rs. 468.33 crore in March 2021, which is up by 18.57% from Rs. 394.97 crore in March 2020.

Consequently, Manappuram 's EPS has increased to Rs. 5.53 in March 2021 from Rs. 4.72 in March 2020. Its EBITDA stood at Rs. 1,189.93 crore in March 2021, which is up 2.7% from Rs. 1,158.62 crore in March 2020. Probably due to the then emerging second wave situation, revenue growth was flatter with Net Revenue at Rs 1,622.32 crore in March 2021, which is up 1.06% from Rs. 1,605.32 crore in March 2020. One of the mid-sized long-term wealth creators in the Indian market, Manappuram's stock is up by 43% in the year-to-date. This NBFC based in Kerala with pan India operations is now reportedly planning for the IPO of its Chennai based microfinance subsidiary, Asirvad Microfinance.

V P. Nandakumar, MD & CEO, Manappuram Finance

home financier's EBITDA stood at Rs. 1,352.85 crore in March 2021, which is up by 26.76% from Rs. 1,067.27 crore in March 2020. The company's plan to sell a controlling stake in the firm to a clutch of overseas investors led by US private equity giant, Carlyle Group, for Rs. 4000 crore, has run into trouble with India's securities regulator, SEBI, halting the process asking for fresh valuation from an independent valuer. While PNB Housing Finance has appealed against this decision at the country's Securities Apellate Tribunal (SAT), the current promoter, PNB's Board has asked PNB Housing Finance to restructure the deal, in view of SEBI's position in the regard. The issue in contention is that the the preferential issue price is barely above the floor price, and as only 25% only need to be paid now by the acquirers, with the rest coming in after 18 months, the deal is allegedly unfair to the company's minority shareholders. The stock has almost doubled after the news broke about the deal.

Hardayal Prasad : Managing Director & CEO

BANKING

IDBI BANK’S TURNAROUND

The

financial year 2020-21 was a milestone year for the Bank as it was back in the black by posting a Net Profit of Rs. 1,359 crore in FY21 after a gap of five consecutive financial years where it reported net losses.

Given the unprecedented challenges faced by the Bank, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was indeed a momentous achievement brought about by the vision of its leadership team as well as the untiring efforts and commitment of its entire workforce. The improvement in the Bank’s financial health in FY 202021 also saw the RBI taking it out of the purview of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework in March 2021. The Bank’s turnaround is a proof of its collective dedication and determination to succeed despite a challenging business and operational environment.

Recognising that banks play an essential role in being an enabler for achieving life goals and for being a source of strength in difficult times, the Bank took appropriate initiatives after the outbreak to ensure availability of banking services to all its customers in a seamless manner while ensuring that all COVID-19 mandated protocols were strictly adhered to. The Bank responded quickly and effectively to the demands of the pandemic by ensuring uninterrupted banking services, providing financial relief to the households, ensuring flow of working capital and credit to business and supporting the delivery of the policy measures announced by the Government of India (GoI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from time to time to the intended beneficiaries.

Even as the Bank continued on its intended business strategy by adopting a risk-calibrated approach SEASONAL MAGAZINE

to lend stability and profitability to its growth, it remained cognizant of the challenges and uncertainties brought to the forefront by the pandemic. Staying true to its envisaged strategic positioning as a retail-focussed bank, the Bank persevered on ramping up its Retail, Agri and MSME (RAM) asset book.

At the same time, the Bank continued to consciously limit its corporate exposure to bring about the diversified and granular asset mix. On the liability side, the Bank continued to take measures to boost the share of its low cost deposits base, i.e. CASA to the total deposit, while reducing reliance on bulk deposits. Tapping into the opportunities of synergy, the Bank continued to liaison with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to derive benefits in terms of growth in its retail liability and asset book as well as to augment fee income. These strategic endeavours of the Bank were backed by introduction of new offerings as well as revamping the existing products/ services. Given the restrictions on movement due to the pandemic, the Bank ensured uninterrupted and seamless customer experience across alternate/ digital channels as also added new functionalities to enhance customer convenience.

Recognising the need for addressing the asset quality concerns in a

THE BANK’S TURNAROUND IS A PROOF OF ITS COLLECTIVE DEDICATION AND DETERMINATION TO SUCCEED DESPITE A CHALLENGING BUSINESS AND OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT.

sustained manner for securing a stable and profitable future growth path, the Bank intensified its efforts to maximise recovery and upgradation of its delinquent asset portfolio through legal and regulatory routes.

To ensure a focussed approach to resolve the existing stress, the Bank set up dedicated teams to drive recovery in its corporate and retail portfolio. In order to mitigate the asset quality concerns going forward, the Bank also strengthened its credit monitoring mechanism in order to closely monitor the onset of stress in the Bank’s portfolio and to prevent slippages in asset quality. Keeping in view the possibility of financial stress on its customers due to the COVID19 induced lockdown/ restrictions, the Bank has been closely monitoring the accounts of borrowers who have opted for the moratorium to ensure regular repayment and thus, avoid stress in the asset quality.

The pandemic, which started over a year ago, has been a learning experience for everyone as it held the lesson that one must look for opportunities in every challenge. The Bank has not only realigned itself to the ‘new business normal’ but has also launched a number of innovative products and services, especially in the digital space, to cater to the emerging business and customer requirements in a safe and secure manner. On the business front, exiting from the RBI’s PCA framework has unlocked huge potential for the Bank.

This will enable the Bank to undertake a wide-range of banking activities, which will aid in further boosting its business performance.

The Bank will continue to remain committed towards its strategic objective of positioning itself as a retail-oriented bank with emphasis on

augmenting the share of retail on both asset and liability sides.

Further, the Bank will cautiously explore avenues to grow its corporate credit book, especially in the mid-sized units, in a riskcalibrated manner. Since the muted operating environment clouds the outlook for the lending activity, the Bank will also focus on maximising fee income by tapping into sale of third party products as well as rendering non-fund based services.

At the same time, to boost the bottom-line, the Bank will take measures to minimize its operating expenses and increase productivity.

KEEPING IN VIEW THE POSSIBILITY OF FINANCIAL STRESS ON ITS CUSTOMERS DUE TO THE COVID-19 INDUCED LOCKDOWN/ RESTRICTIONS, THE BANK HAS BEEN CLOSELY MONITORING THE ACCOUNTS OF BORROWERS WHO HAVE OPTED FOR THE MORATORIUM TO ENSURE REGULAR REPAYMENT AND THUS, AVOID STRESS IN THE ASSET QUALITY

To ensure a focussed approach towards these business objectives, the Bank has, over the years, taken steps to put in place an appropriate organisation structure to drive its strategic vision.

Going forward, the success of the Bank’s strategy up till now has strengthened its resolve to conquer new horizons. Being cognisant of the elevated risks in the operating environment, the Bank will consciously take steps to remain strong and resilient in face of the challenges and be future-ready to tap the emerging opportunities.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

INSURANCE

LIC SHOWS UNIQUE CAPABILITY IN THE RUN UP TO MEGA IPO A PANDEMIC OF COVID-19 SCALE LEAVES NO BUSINESS UNTOUCHED. AND A ‘SECOND WAVE’ LIKE HOW IT HAPPENED IN INDIA, STARTING FROM MARCH-APRIL RATTLED MOST SECTORS TO THEIR CORE. AND LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES WERE NO EXCEPTION, AS NEW POLICIES AND RECURRING PREMIUM PAYMENTS TAKE A DIRECT HIT DURING LOCKDOWNS.

hat is why the May numbers from all the life insurers were keenly awaited by the market.

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

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

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

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

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

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

In sharp contrast, private insurers saw their premiums fall 20.19% over the previous month to Rs 4,029.34 crore in May. LIC’s new business premium

WHEN WE MOVE FROM THE NUMBER OF NEW POLICIES TO THE TOTAL NEW BUSINESS PREMIUM COLLECTED FROM THESE POLICIES, LIC’S PERFORMANCE IN MAY IS EVEN STRONGER.

jumped 106.31% to Rs 8,947.64 crore.

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

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

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

HEALTHCARE

WHY THE SECOND WAVE SHOULD CHANGE INDIAN HEALTHCARE FOREVER If

THE GROSS PROFITEERING MINDSET IS WHAT SHOULD FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE IN THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR. LET EVERY PREVENTIVE STRATEGY, ESPECIALLY THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL AS WELL AS ECONOMICAL LIFESTYLE MODIFICATIONS TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER THE DAILY-PILL CULTURE THAT JUST PROLONGS LONGEVITY WITH NO UNDERLYING HEALTH. SUCH AN HONEST STRATEGY WOULD RESCUE MILLIONS OF LIVES NOT ONLY FROM THE SECOND WAVE OR THIRD WAVE, BUT FROM ANY FUTURE PANDEMICS.

there is one sector that has remained financially unaffected by the pandemic, it is healthcare. Or is it? Only time would unravel the whole picture. Already healthcare, especially hospitals, were not in a good shape before the pandemic hit, and there are early indications that for many hospitals and pharma companies, the situation has not improved, if not worsened.

But the bigger picture is the sheer amount of pressure the hospitals and healthcare professionals like doctors and nurses have gone through in battling this pandemic.

During the peak of the second wave, dozens of our doctors and nurses were losing their precious lives. Apart from the thousands of lives lost in the medical and nursing professions, is the deep trauma many of them had to go through. There is a high chance that many frontline health workers will need help with issues like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), even after the pandemic wanes.

Eerily, what was always the rosiest profession with lakhs in monthly earnings, has become one of the riskiest professions to be – much like joining the army during an all-out war. How did the situation come to be this bad for the medical community?

While no one could have predicted or prevented a pandemic of this scale, what is striking is that much of the pain that befell the healthcare community, could have been prevented by the doctors themselves, had they been more preventive in their therapeutic practice.

Dr. PK Sasidharan, a retired professor of Kozhikode Medical College had made an interesting observation – that he is yet to see a patient who died only of Covid.

While the microscopic level of its technicalities may be contested, his SEASONAL MAGAZINE

message is loud and clear. That it is not Covid-19 that kills directly but the comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic inflammation, poor immunity, advanced age, obesity and several other yet to be identified factors in a person’s body.

These comorbidities cause catastrophic events like fatal blood clots and fibroids in lungs or invite secondary killer infections like pneumonia & black fungus, driving up the demand for oxygen, ventilators, intensive care, expensive medicines etc, and often end up in the most unfortunate deaths.

There is an even murkier angle to these complications and deaths. Dr. Lancelot M Pinto, Consultant Respirologist at Mumbai’s PD Hinduja Hospital explained this in a recent article. According to him, around 85% of Covid-19 patients pass the first week, which is the viremic phase, without any complications. By the end of this first week, the virus is no longer in such patients’ bodies significantly. That is our natural immunity overpowering the virus.

But in the remaining patients, their bodies unnecessarily continue an elevated or aggressive immune response, resulting in the now well-documented cytokine storms, which is behind much of the witnessed complications from the second week onward. This situation is dangerous if left untreated and that is when there is need for oxygen support and steroids like dexamethasone for suppressing this excessive immunity.

But unfortunately, as Dr. Pinto notes in his article, many inexperienced physicians who lack conviction, start prescribing steroids from the first week or early onset of the disease itself. Again, in many patients this doesn’t pose much of a

problem as their immunity is strong. But in some, this results in a weakened natural immunity and aggravated Covid-19 infection that doesn’t resolve naturally or as fast as it should, or even worse, ends up in inviting fatal secondary infections.

Even in cases where steroids are started only in the second week on necessity, some doctors and hospitals, lacking conviction in the correct protocol, give it for too long a period, thereby upping chances for serious infections like pneumonia and mucormycosis or black fungus.

None other than Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director of AIIMS has advised hospitals that the increasing prevalence of black fungus is due to administering steroids aggressively in Covid patients with diabetes, by flouting all accepted treatment protocols for the pandemic. According to this ace pulmonologist, such misuse of steroids can lead to fungal and bacterial infections that can be fatal in themselves.

Black fungus can cause facial discoloration, vision loss and even death by itself, if not identified and treated properly, with a fatality rate of over 50%.

According to Dr. Pinto, it is common for many physicians to treat Covid-19 patients with a cocktail of 5 to 10 medicines – practically everything they have heard to be effective against Covid – in the first week itself, which is totally against the accepted protocols. Why this is done is due to the high fever of 102-103 degrees possible in the first week, and this makes some patients, their relatives and even their doctors anxious. And when such patients recover too, the wrong conviction and confidence of such doctors increase, making them apply such drug cocktails to more people, but

which turn dangerous in some.

Prof. PK Sasidharan, formerly with Kozhikode Medical College, explains this with a good example. He says that rare cases are often cited in media where even 90 to 100-year old persons are seen recovering from Covid, with all credit being given to the doctors and nurses treating such patients. Dr. Sasidharan says this is not factually correct, as such persons are surviving due to their bodies’ innate strengths like a well-regulated natural immunity. And on the other hand he says, the medical team is often criticized when a person in his or her 30s succumb to Covid. This too is not probably correct says, Prof. Sasidharan, as a careful examination would reveal that such persons would have had some hidden peculiarities in their physiology like an exaggerated immune response.

But the worst outcomes are mediated by those patients who irresponsibly circulate their own or others’ Covid prescriptions through channels like Whatsapp, says Dr. Pinto. Often such prescriptions will have 5 to 10 medicines, and many people unwittingly take these medicines themselves at the slightest symptoms, or some of them even without any symptoms believing that these are prophylactic. Little do they know that these medicines, which will often contain steroids like dexamethasone, actually suppress natural immunity thereby inviting not only Covid, but harsh bouts of it.

In the hospital setting, such overprescription of medicines is not done by just ignorant doctors but doctors who want to guard their own lives above everything.

Such a mindset was spoken about by renowned cardiac surgeon Dr. Devi Shetty of Narayana Hrudayalaya. He says a lot of it has to do with the profile of youngsters opting to be doctors these days.

In his times, there were a lot of medical students coming from middleclass backgrounds too, for whom service is a very natural thing. But nowadays, youngsters from very affluent backgrounds are the ones generally opting to be doctors, and their eye is on multi-lakh monthly salaries and they are the ones most taken aback by the current demand for extreme service in this profession.

Dr. Shetty also had some solid suggestions for revamping the medical education

sector, as a lasting solution to this crisis. He says the problems start with medical colleges that cost more than Rs. 500 crore to set up. Such colleges cater only to the rich students and they are fit only for service in developed regions like US or Europe.

Instead of this, he says the licensing regime should go and any well-intentioned group should be allowed to start medical colleges, provided that the investment made and fees charged are reasonable for most students. He cites the example of proliferating engineering colleges, that resulted in ample seats, low fees and most importantly rapid deployment of engineers in the workforce who made a name for India across the world.

To naysayers who say setting up medical colleges need hundreds of crores of rupees, Dr. Shetty says deep discounts are possible if lab equipment are purchased in bulk, as his Narayana Hrudayalaya gets stents imported at a much lower rate when they procure it in bulk as they do 14% of all heart surgeries for children in the country.

Coming to the immediate solution for managing the crisis, Dr. Shetty says massive procurement of vaccines by the government from all high-quality suppliers is the only way. Such procurement will invariably result in negotiable deep discounts, which will make the whole program affordable to India.

Another leader from healthcare sector, who has several commonsense suggestions is Dr. A Velumani, former scientist and founder of the leading chain of diagnostics labs, Thyrocare Technologies. He says after more than a year with Covid-19, if people are still dying of oxygen shortage, it amounts to murder.

He calls for facilitation of massive investments in healthcare infrastructure.

His firm had made waves by offering to do RT-PCR test at as low as Rs. 300 in the underserved districts of India. He still feels that vaccinating even 60% of people in India for achieving herd immunity is a tough task, and that calibrated easing of lockdowns is also necessary for people acquiring natural immunity against Covid.

The greatest lesson for the healthcare sector from this pandemic, especially in India, is that the current treatment protocols for managing non-communicable or lifestyle

Prof. Dr. PK Sasidharan

Dr. Lancelot M Pinto

Dr. Randeep Guleria

diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, dementia, COPD, obesity, cancers, chronic inflammation, and hundreds of such diseases is severely lacking in quality.

Most of these diseases have genetic roots but are triggered and aggravated by faulty lifestyles, and as such their ideal treatment should give priority to correcting these faulty lifestyles. Then only is the disease effectively combatted with least damage to the body.

Instead, though everyone including doctors love to call them by the name lifestyle diseases, just lip service is provided to healthy lifestyles as the remedy. Instead, a daily-pill culture is promoted for all these diseases, which manage these diseases superficially, even while lasting damage is being done internally. These pills can ensure longevity but cannot do anything SEASONAL MAGAZINE

for accelerated biological aging that these diseases bring in.

But still most doctors actively promote the idea that none of these diseases can be cured permanently by lifestyle modifications, but can only be managed by these daily pills. This they do even while newer evidence is mounting that not only can many of these diseases be reversed, but can even be prevented from occurring by early interventions in the form of healthy lifestyle modifications in diet, exercise, nutrition, stress management etc.

But that would be preventive medicine, something doctors and hospitals detest so much. It doesn’t suit the interests of pharmaceutical companies or doctors or hospitals who want people to remain sick with lifestyle diseases for a lifetime so that they can have customers for a lifetime. That is why no one can be blamed for reaching a conclusion that the healthcare establishment literally invited this colossal stress on themselves.

Dr. Johny Kannampilly, a leading diabetologist based in Kerala says, “Lifestyle modification treatment is now considered as an approved therapy with evidence showing its medical benefits to prevent and reduce lifestyle diseases. But for this to gain acceptance, it should be covered by medical insurance. Lifestyle modification treatment and detox leave should also be included in medical leave for employees which will enhance the overall health and well-being of the employees and increase their performance and company’s outcome too.”

Also a Consultant Diabetologist at Kochi’s VPS Lakeshore Hospital, Dr. Johny shared several more insights about revamping the healthcare sector, “The Indian GDP set apart for healthcare is about 1.6% which is one of the lowest among other comparable countries. This should change when this pandemic has taught us health is the greatest wealth. Both mental and physical health of our population are deteriorating in the recent years due to many factors like unhealthy diet , lack of physical activity and stress due to the rat race. Like in other countries, there should be incentives by giving reductions in medical insurance premiums if some health goals are achieved like 7% weight loss from the previous year etc.“ He also calls for more far-reaching SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Dr. Devi Shetty

Dr. A Velumani

Dr. Johny Kannampilly

initiatives to reduce stress in the workforce, “Most thoughtful countries have a five-day work culture where Saturday and Sunday are holidays which will rejuvenate the mind and body to perform better without accumulating prolonged stress . This can be done in India too by increasing one hour extra to the other five days . We have to think of new approaches to improve the health of our people if we want to a make India a 5 trillion economy and not at the cost of health of our people.”

Noted economist Dr. Ajay Shah is one genius mind who has observed hospitals and healthcare sector up-close, and capable of offering radical solutions to revamp. Says Dr. Shah, “Hospitals have

incentives to look like five star hotels, but that's not essential to the business of being a hospital. To be a good hospital, you need to be clean, but you don't need to be like a five star hotel. The modern Indian healthcare industry is really building expensive infrastructure and loaning it out, with a rent-seeking mindset to one doctor or specialist after another. Customers are just going by the glitz, the brand name and the marble foyer, rather than the substantive content of the knowledge and the value of the healthcare.”

Dr. Ajay Shah also distinguishes between healthcare and wellness, which is lost on most, “We have to bring in the distinction between the medicalization of healthcare, and the issue of wellness. All of us should be prioritizing wellness 1000 times more than we do with healthcare. In wellness, I would always go beyond the physical body to the mind for two reasons. Firstly because it is the mind that fosters a healthy body. Secondly, the purpose of living is to have some peace of mind and happiness, which is a mental state and you are finding meaning and purpose in your life through mental wellness, rather than being on a treadmill.”

About the profiteering mindset, Dr. Shah adds, “The Indian healthcare establishment has no interest at all in you as a human being. They don't want to talk about your state of stress, your unhealthy lifestyle etc. What you often really need is a good talk from a wise person saying ‘Dude you need to fix your life!’ Instead, the healthcare provider says ‘Come here, I'll put you under the knife and I'll fix you up!’ Sure enough, two years from now, you are going to be messed up again.”

Undoubtedly, this profiteering mindset is what should fundamentally change in the healthcare sector. Let every preventive strategy, especially the most fundamental as well as economical lifestyle modifications take precedence over the daily pill culture that just prolongs longevity with no underlying health. Such an honest strategy would rescue millions of lives not only from the second wave or third wave, but from any future pandemics.

This is also sheer commonsense for all as the most prevalent of these lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases & cancers are bigger killers in their own might than Covid-19, every year.

ESAF SMALL FINANCE BANK

TURNING 4 YEARS BY PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES TO PROSPER It has been almost three decades since ESAF started as a grassroots level movement and microfinance institution, and four years since it started functioning as ESAF Small Finance Bank.

Led by microfinance pioneer, K Paul Thomas as its Founder, MD & CEO, ESAF SFB is growing from strength to strength by offering a full bouquet of banking services, all based on its philosophy of providing opportunities to common people to pursue their big dreams of prosperity. This fifth year of operation is also likely to be a landmark year due to its planned IPO.

regular bank. Today, it leads its peers in terms of yield on advances, AUM growth rate, share of retail deposits, and several other such metrics.

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

Soon after becoming a bank, ESAF SFB made significant forays into NRI banking and overseas remittances, which is a stronghold of Kerala. When Reserve Bank of India made it a Scheduled Bank in December 2018, ESAF SFB became the fifth scheduled bank from the state, which was traditionally a cradle of private sector banking.

At the same time, ESAF SFB leveraged its deep experience due to microlending operations in several states across India, to expand its geographic footprint across India. It’s 500th branch was opened in Ahmedabad in Gujarat late last year, and ESAF SFB is well on track to have 535 branches before the end of this year.

As of H1 end, the bank had 40 lakh customers through its banking outlets across 19 states and two union territories. Its core retail products include fixed and recurring deposit schemes with attractive interest rates, gold loans, and affordable loans for small and micro entrepreneurs and individuals.

When ESAF Small Finance Bank goes for its IPO, it will be another phase of growth by providing opportunities to prosper for others, this time, for India’s capital market investors, both retail and institutional. ESAF SFB is one of India’s most well run small finance banks, and is likely to be a good opportunity for investors.

Being a lending institution growing at a rapid pace, ESAF SFB’s IPO will involve predominantly fresh issue of shares, by which the bank will raise

around Rs. 800 crore for itself. Apart from this, there will be an Offer for Sale (OFS) by promoters and two early institutional investors , Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company and PI Ventures. This will be for around Rs. 198 crore.

Around five years back, when several SFB licences were given out, ESAF SFB was quick to sprint off the block, as basically it was long prepared for the transformation from being a Non Banking Finance Company in Microfinance (NBFC-MFI) to being a

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

Paul Thomas takes most pride in the fact that ESAF’s and later ESAF SFB’s growth has always been powered by its commitment to provide its customers opportunities to prosper. He feels that despite all the lip service, when it comes to actual delivery of such services, many financial institutions fall short.

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

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

Based on such a visionary combination of strategies, the bank has been growing impressively. The bank has reported 41% year-on-year growth in net profits and its total business has SEASONAL MAGAZINE

grown by 35%. As of the first half of this fiscal, H1, total business stood at Rs. 15,582 crore.

this year. The net NPA, as a percentage of net advances, reduced from 0.62% to 0.19% this year.

Both assets and liabilities have grown proportionately. Deposits increased by 35.38% to Rs. 8,208 crore and advances by 34.70% to Rs. 7,374 crore.

The conservative and highly prudent nature of its operations is also reflected in its capital adequacy. It is one of the most well capitalized SFBs with CRAR at 24.29% with Tier I CRAR of 21.10%, against a regulatory requirement of 15% and 7.50%, respectively.

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

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

Due to this, ESAF SFB’s asset quality has been improving steadily. Gross NPAs, as a percentage of gross advances, decreased from 1.76% as of September 30, 2019, to 1.32% as of September 30

AS OF H1 END, THE BANK HAD 40 LAKH CUSTOMERS THROUGH ITS BANKING OUTLETS ACROSS 19 STATES AND TWO UNION TERRITORIES.

With such a sustainable growth model in place, it is no wonder that ESAF SFB had won the Global Sustainability Award 2020 organised by Energy and Environment Foundation. Bank founder and CEO K Paul Thomas received the award from Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in an online summit attended by Marise Payne, Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs.

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