Deshdeepak blogger

The north Indian tea industry wants output regulation, as it is facing the challenge of oversupply, which is dampening prices.

Vivek Goenka, the chairman of the apex industry body, the Indian Tea Association, said that production in India had risen more rapidly than consumption, leading to an ‘unhealthy demand-supply situation’.

According to a Crisil report, while tea production in India logged a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.2% between 2012 and 2017, consumption increased by a mere 1.7% in the period. In 2018, global production rose by 60 million kg over the previous year. The FAO had projected a global price decline of 1.4% in nominal terms and by 3.6% in real terms over the next decade, Mr. Goenka noted.

“The need of the hour is thus to immediately regulate the growth of output and I would urge the State government and the Tea Board to address this vital aspect so that price levels do not recede further,” he said. Tea Board Deputy Chairman Arun Kumar Ray told that the early closure of the tea season in December 2018 had sucked out about 25 million kg of indifferent quality teas from the market. “The industry has to focus on quality and value addition,” he said

On prices, Mr. Goenka cited the instance of Assam (which accounts for half of India’s tea output), saying that prices had increased by only 3% in 2018 over 2017.

For the north Indian industry as a whole, prices had not even increased 2% over the last five years when input costs rose 11%. When contacted, Atul Asthana, MD and CEO, Goodricke Group Ltd. (with gardens in Assam, Dooars and Darjeeling) said that output regulation had already begun through the Tea Board’s order last year.

Mr. Goenka also felt that this would benefit the industry in the long run.

Mr. Asthana said there seemed to be greater demand for lower varieties of teas. He also felt the Board could stop poorer quality teas from entering the market by enforcing minimum quality parameters for green-leaf harvesting.

The Generalized System of Preferences is the largest and oldest United States trade preference programme. The U.S. intended it to promote economic development by eliminating duties on some products it imports from the 120 countries designated as beneficiaries of 1974. According to the website of the U.S. Trade Representative, the GSP helps spur sustainable development in beneficiary countries by helping them increase and diversify their trade with the U.S. The U.S. also believes that moving GSP imports from the docks to U.S. consumers, farmers, and manufacturers supports tens of thousands of jobs in the U.S. The other benefit is that “GSP boosts American competitiveness by reducing the costs of imported inputs used by U.S. companies to manufacture goods in the United States.” The Trade Representative says the GSP is important to U.S. small businesses, many of which rely on the programmes’ duty savings to stay competitive.

The Indian export industry may not feel the pinch of the GSP removal for India by the U.S. The loss for the industry amounts to about $190 million on exports of $5.6 billion falling under the GSP category. But specific sectors, such as gem and jewellery, leather and processed foods will lose the benefits of the programme. A producer may be able to bear 2-3% of the loss from the change, but not more. The loss, in export of some kinds of rice for example, may even exceed 10%. The landed price of goods from India has to be the same as it was before the GSP was removed. If not, consumers of those products in the U.S. would gravitate to producers that enjoy the GSP benefits and hence are able to offer lower prices. Obviously, it is difficult to get back a customer that a competitor takes away.

The U.S. conducts periodic reviews of the programme. The review for India, taken up last year, focussed on ‘whether it is meeting the eligibility criterion that requires a GSP beneficiary country to assure the U.S. that it will provide equitable and reasonable access to its market.’ The Trade Representative accepted two petitions asserting that India did not meet the criterion: one from the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, and the other from the Advanced Medical Technology Association. India wants dairy products, which could form part of religious worship, certified that they were was only derived from animals that have not been fed food containing internal organs. Other exporters such as EU nations and New Zealand certify their products, but the U.S. has so far not done so. Second, India has recently placed a cap on the prices of medical devices, like stents, that impacts U.S. exports of such devices.

The government must offer fiscal help to the affected sectors. But the obvious question is: what can India do if it has to be compliant with World Trade Organisation rules that protect all its members equally from undue sops given to exporters? A wry answer is that if the U.S. is not playing by WTO rules, other countries too need to be able to protect their industries. But it is possible to offer some breather to producers suffering losses from the GSP removal, even while being WTO-compliant. The Centre could consider refund of taxes for goods not under GST. Use of electricity or petrol in the manufacture of such goods but for which an input credit is not available could qualify here. Helping such sectors would also protect jobs; especially when job creation is at a low.

India’s richest person Mukesh Ambani on 18 Jan2019 committed to invest Rs 3 lakh crore in various projects in the next 10 years in Gujarat, that may range from energy and petrochemical to new technology and digital business.

Ambani’s Reliance Industries operates the world’s largest oil refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat as well as petrochemical units at multiple locations in the state.

Reliance Industries has also invested billions of dollars in the roll out of telecom venture, Jio.

“We have so far invested nearly Rs 3 lakh crores in the state of Gujarat. And created and catalyzed over one million livelihood opportunities in Gujarat. In comparison to the past decades, Reliance will double this investment and employment numbers over the next ten years,” he said.

Ambani said, while Jio’s network is now fully 5G ready, the telecom arm and the retail division will launch a new commerce platform to connect small retailers and shopkeepers with customers.

The twin oil refineries at Jamnagar will produce more value-added products like petrochemicals and less of fuel as the world moves towards electric vehicles.

He, however, did not say when Jio, that started operations in 2016, will launch 5G services.

Without giving timelines, he said Jio and Reliance Retail, which has over 9,000 stores across the country, will launch “a unique new commerce platform to empower and enrich our 12 lakh small retailers and shopkeepers in Gujarat which are part of over 3 crore community in India.”

Ambani had previously spoken of leveraging the Jio network for launching some sort of e-commerce venture.

Also, Reliance Foundation will invest Rs 150 crore to make Pandit Deendayal University in Gujarat even stronger and an institution of international repute, he said.

Businesses in India are making better progress than others in dealing with challenges of the fourth industrial revolution on key aspects of society, strategy, technology and talent, a survey said on Monday.

In its annual ‘Readiness Report’ released on the first day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in this Swiss ski resort town, global consultancy giant Deloitte said global leaders are facing the pressures of preparing their businesses and workforces for this new era, with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) re-shaping how the world lives and works.

However, Indian businesses are taking a proactive approach to train their workforces for the future and they have the most clearly defined decision-making process of all executives.

The five-day WEF summit, being attended by over 3,000 global leaders including more than 100 from India, has the main theme of ‘Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution’.

According to the Deloitte report titled ‘Leadership in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Faces of progress’, certain geographies, especially businesses in India, have demonstrated the right aptitude for success in Industry 4.0.

This is because of their focused approach to upskilling their employees, linking customer satisfaction to societal impact and profits and above all, the ethical use of Industry 4.0 technologies, Deloitte said in its second annual ‘Readiness Report’.

This year’s survey of more than 2,000 C-suite executives across 19 countries included 130 respondents from India.

Many respondents acknowledged they are still in the early stages of navigating Industry 4.0.

However, businesses in India are making better progress than others in dealing with the challenges within the four major areas of impact they were measured — society, strategy, technology, and talent.

However, in two critical areas — societal impact and talent development — CXO attitudes have changed dramatically from 2017, indicating leaders are becoming more realistic about what it takes to succeed in Industry 4.0.

“Poor decision making processes are holding back many companies globally, but this seems less significant in India. The recognition that customer satisfaction many times leads to social impact initiatives is higher in India than in the rest of the world is an interesting data point brought out by the survey,” said Kumar Kandaswami, Partner, Deloitte India.

Globally, 34 per cent of the respondents indicated that the societal impact is the most important factor business leaders use to gauge success, whereas customer satisfaction remains a top priority for Indian executives (29 per cent).

As many as 58 per cent of Indian leaders – the most of any country – said their organisation has a clearly defined decision-making process.

From India, 65 per cent said they have permission from their leadership to fail and learn in the context of innovation (global 69 per cent).

Further, Indian executives are more concerned about the ethical usage of Industry 4.0 technologies (India 55 per cent, global 30 per cent) and are taking action.

More than four in ten (41 per cent) of Indian executives also indicated their organisations are investing in new technologies to disrupt the market, compared to 33 per cent globally.

While Indian executives are less confident about knowing which skill sets their workforce will need in the future (India 53 per cent, global 63 per cent), they are working to be more prepared, Deloitte said.

When it comes to preparing the workforce for Industry 4.0, Indian leaders are just as challenged as their global counterparts by the mismatch between current skill sets and those needed for the future (India 55 per cent, global 55 per cent).

They foresee attracting talent as far less of a challenge (India 39 per cent, global 48 per cent) than retaining talent with the necessary skills (India 52 per cent, global 46 per cent).

India is the most dangerous country for sexual violence against women, according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation 2018 survey.

The survey, which measures sexual and non-sexual violence, discrimination, cultural traditions, health care and human trafficking, has been Criticized for reflecting more perception than data.

But India barely fares better in other studies that rank its treatment of women. It placed 131st of 152 countries in the Georgetown instutio globle rankings of women’s inclusion and well being report.

India’s nation crime record beauro reported 338,954 crimes against women – including 38,947 rapes – in 2016, the most recent government data available. That’s up from 309546 reported incidence of voilace against women in 2013.

High-profile attacks on Indian women have shocked this nation of 1.3 billion in recent years. The 2012 gang rape of a 23-year-old student in Delhi who died from her injuries caused public outrage. The incident helped spur an amendment to indian criminal law, which broadened the definition of sexual crimes against women to include stalking, acid attacks and voyeurism

Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued an executive order allowing the death penalty as a punishment for people involved of sexual assaulting a child under 12 .

But stricter laws apparently did little to prevent 34 girls from being tortured and raped at government-funded shelters in India’s Bihar state earlier last year after new rule .

Women’s representation in India

Research on diversity in government suggests that one of the reasons India has not been able to effectively address crimes against women is the lack of women in national political office.

That’s because, research shows, having women in government can lead to more and better laws that safeguard women’s well-being.

India’s population is 48 % female. But women hold just under 13 % approx of seats in the national legislature.

That falls well below the 30 percent “critical mass” that the united Nation equal opportunity commission believes is necessary for women lawmakers to be influential in policymaking.

Local governments in India actually have a quota system that ensures women hold 1/3 of seats in rural and city councils. But female representation in India’s far more powerful national government remains comparable to countries like the Republic of Congo and Mauritius, where women hold about 11% of legislative seats.

Rwanda, where 61% of legislators are female, has the most women in government of any nation in the world, followed by Cuba, with 53 %.

These are not necessarily the safest places in the world for women. According to the Georgetown instutio globle rankings of women’s inclusion and well being report, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Slovenia and Spain are some of the safest – all countries where women hold over 30 % of leglesation seats.

Political representation does not translate precisely, directly or immediately into physical security for a given population. But it’s a start.

Women help women

Research demonstrates that governments that include representatives from across society – that is, of different political parties, races, classes, genders, geographies and religions – produce better quality of life for citizens than less inclusive governments.

women in office may prioritize different kinds of policies than men – including those that address the needs of women and children.

In New Zealand, where women hold 38 % of parlymantery seats , lawmakers recently guaranteed paid leave for victims of domestic violence. That gives victims time to relocate, protecting themselves and their children from their abusers.

Women in the United States Congress have also proactively addressed sexual harassment inside government.

female senators from both parties – who make up 22%of u.s. senot– pushed Senate leadership to call a vote on leglesation that would give legal representation to women who complain of sexual harassment on Capitol Hill and reduce barriers to filing a formal complaint. The bill passed and is currently being reconciled with the House’s version of a similar bill.

And it was the late chief minister of India’s Tamil Nadu state, J. Jayalalithaa, who in 2010 announced a 13- point action plan for the state to better protect sexual violence survivors. Her provisions, which have since been partially implemented, included state-paid medical expenses after abuse, female investigating officers and fast-track courts for sexual violence cases.

India’s 2013 national legislation on sexual violence ignores many of these victims’ rights issues, as the human rights organizations human right watch and Amnesty International have pointed out.

Getting women at the table

India has contemplated the need for more women in public office.

In 2010, the upper house of its legislature voted on a bill that would have designated one-third of seats in national and state legislative assemblies for women. Then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described it as a “historic step forward toward emancipation of Indian womanhood.”

But the lower house never voted on the bill. And though Prime Minister Modi has expressed support for a gender quota in indian government, he has made little effort to work with parliament to get the legislation passed.

Putting Indian women in positions of political power won’t solve a longstanding, pervasive and entrenched social issue like violence against women.

But evidence suggests that an Indian government with more women in it could better protect Indian women by passing comprehensive laws that defend women from abuse and help victims recover.

Insurance behemoth LIC on January 21 completed the acquisition of 51 per cent controlling stake in IDBI Bank, marking the entry of more than 60 years old state-owned insurer into the banking space.

With the acquisition of controlling stake by LIC, IDBI Bank will now become private sector lender. The number of public sector lenders has come down to 20 with the government transferring its majority stake in favour of LIC.

“The deal, conceptualised in June 2018, is envisaged as a win-win situation for both IDBI Bank and LIC with an opportunity to create enormous value for shareholders, customers & employees of both entities through mutual synergies,” IDBI Bank said in a BSE filing.

In August last year, the Cabinet approved the acquisition of controlling stake by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) as a promoter in the bank through a combination of preferential allotment and open offer of equity.

LIC had been looking to enter the banking space by acquiring a majority stake in IDBI Bank, as the deal is expected to provide business synergies despite the lender’s stressed balance sheet.

The bank had reported a net loss of Rs 3,602.49 crore during the September quarter of 2018-19. Its gross non-performing assets hit 31.78 per cent (Rs 60,875.49 crore) of the gross advances as on September 30, 2018, as compared with 24.98 per cent in the year-ago period.

IDBI Bank has about 1.5 crore retail customers and about 18,000 employees. With this deal, LIC will have a strategic investment in a large bancassurance channel, thereby increasing its productivity and reducing distribution costs.

Over 1,800 branches of IDBI Bank can be used as touch points for selling LIC policies and more than 900 of the bank’s branches are also proposed to be enabled for settlement payments via NEFT, it said.

IDBI Bank said it would significantly increase its investments in building data analytics capabilities to analyse customer behaviour of both the entities.

This will enable the bank to enhance its product offerings, reduce distribution cost, de-risk portfolio and support retail business build, it added.

IDBI Bank said its retail loan portfolio is expected to reach 50 per cent by fiscal 2019-20.

“IDBI Bank and LIC have started working to ensure full realisation of their synergies over the next 12 months. Improved financial health will pave the way for the bank to exit from prompt corrective action (PCA) in a time-bound manner and be a future-ready, top-ranked bank. LIC and IDBI Bank are committed to serve the interests of all stakeholders,” the bank said.

Of the 21 state-owned banks, 11 are under the PCA framework. These are Allahabad Bank, United Bank of India, Corporation Bank, IDBI Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Dena Bank and Bank of Maharashtra.

In order to revive the fortune of the bank, the IDBI Bank board Monday approved in-principle, the proposal to reinitiate divestment process of the bank’s stake in IDBI Federal Life Insurance.

Meanwhile, the board also decided to continue with the existing top management, including Rakesh Sharma as the managing director of the bank.

The board of “IDBI Bank has in its meeting held on January 21 approved continuation of office of Rakesh Sharma, K P Nair and G M Yadwadkar as directors and as MD & CEO and DMDs (deputy managing director), respectively, of the bank till such time as the board approves appointment of” new management following the due process”, it said.

The bank’s board also approved the appointment of Rajesh Kandwal as an additional director and LIC’s nominee director on the board of IDBI Bank.

Kandwal is the director and the chief executive officer of LICHFL Care Homes Ltd.

With the acquisition of 51 per cent, LIC can appoint three more directors on the board of IDBI Bank.

However, the board is yet to take any call with the change of name of the bank as LIC has strong brand value.

India’s elite institutions IITs and IIMs will add nearly 5,100 and 800 seats, respectively, by 2021, Times of India reports. Overall, centrally funded institutions will add 3 lakh seats in phases under the 10% quota for the economically weak. Delhi University will get 16,000 more seats while Visva Bharati and JNU will be able to accommodate 822 and 346 more students, respectively. Earlier, HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said the government will increase seats in higher education institutes by 25% to ensure the EWS quota doesn’t affect the existing reservation for SC, ST and other categories.