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Business & Commerce

TN cropers vex while others await Baisakhi

by TrickyScribe April 12, 2017

@ScribeTricky: With the Baisakhi festivity gripping the north-western states, India, still being an agrarian economy, is all set for express gratitude to the Almighty for the bountiful harvest and pray for prosperity and good times in future. Baisakhi is all set to bring political storms this time.

Recent developments in three states, viz. Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have brought the debate on the waiver of farm loans back under the political limelight.

A major issue in this regard still remains unresolved that is the issue of Tamil farmers staging Dharnas and demonstrations for their “needful” demand of loan waiver. A group of farmers, all from Tamil Nadu, has been agitating in New Delhi for a complete waive off their agricultural bank loans citing highly decimated produce for consecutive years.

The almost a month-long agitation took a drastic turn when the demonstrating farmers went naked in front of the Prime Minister’s Office to putting rats in their mouth. They even sat on the road at Jantar Mantar and ate rice off the ground. What a splendid show in a country whose primary profession happens to be cultivation? And how tight the slap was on the Neta-Babu nexus that has led to a situation as pathetic as this?

Eating rice off the ground is a ritual which is observed in temples mostly. It is an act of prayer asking help from the gods. “We flourish in life from nature and now we eat from nature. We have nothing to lose. We will sit here and pray till our death,” said a protesting farmer Thyagarajan.

“Political parties are requesting us to call off our protest because of the way we agitated outside the PMO. We can’t lose hope. We will continue our agitation until our demands are met,” said Ayyakkannu, leader of the farmers.

The farmers have been living near Jantar Mantar for almost a month now. They eat, sleep and bathe at Jantar Mantar. Sick farmers have been sent back home and replaced by others coming in. The farmers, however, claim that they will not budge until the Centre adheres to their demands, which include a complete waiver of farm loans and a drought relief package of Rs 40,000 crore.

Madras High Court had earlier directed the state government to waive all farm loans accessed through cooperative banks, irrespective of the size of the farmer’s landholdings. The court took the view that this classification was arbitrary in the context of loans, and wanted the big farmers to get the write-off benefits too putting an additional burden of Rs 1980.33 crores on the state exchequer. Tamil Nadu had recently released drought relief of about Rs 2,300 crores to farmers, crediting the amount directly into their bank accounts.

Uttar Pradesh

In Uttar Pradesh, the newly-elected BJP government under CM Yogi Adityanath announced on Wednesday last that it would write-off crop loans of up to Rs 1 lakh for about 21.6 million small and marginal farmers.

Maharashtra

In Maharashtra, the Devendra Fadnavis government said it was studying the UP model to see if a similar loan waiver scheme was feasible in the state, after the Opposition vowed to continue agitations till farmers got a reprieve.

RBI’s take

Expressing his displeasure at the spate of loan waiver announcements in different states, Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Urjit Patel on Thursday last said “it would undermine an honest credit culture and impact credit discipline.”
Development economists, however, feel that as long as strong systemic changes are ushered in through which the cost of cultivation is reduced and the price for farm produce is increased, the cycle of farm loan waivers would be inevitable.

Short-term measure

Development economists feel farm loan waivers are short-term measures but are nevertheless necessary in times of severe drought or floods. However, they said that there was a deeper systemic problem that has pushed farmers strongly into the debt cycle.

A former economist at the Madras Institute of Development Studies told TrickyScribe while pleading anonymity the price for farm produce has stagnated over the years. The cost of agricultural inputs, on the contrary, have soared. “Unless the government reduces cost of production and increases agriculture profit, farmers will remain caught in the debt cycle,” he added.

“Unless the government reduces cost of production and increases agriculture profit, farmers will remain caught in the debt cycle,” he added.What kind of Baisakhi do we expect this year? Will it be a Thanksgiving as always or will it become a mockery of the agrarians with celebs performing bhangra and gidda for Page 3 parties?

What kind of Baisakhi do we expect this year? Will it be a Thanksgiving as always or will it become a mockery of the agrarians with celebs performing bhangra and gidda for Page 3 parties?

www.TrickyScribe.in

Total Views: 3,32,090

April 12, 2017

Business & Commerce

Key differences between preferred stock and common stock?

by TrickyScribe April 9, 2017

written by TrickyScribe

Preferred and common stocks are different in two key aspects.

Firstly, preferred stockholders have a greater claim to a company’s assets and earnings. This is true during the good times when the company has excess cash and decides to distribute money in the form of dividends to its investors. In these instances when distributions are made, preferred stockholders must be paid before common stockholders. However, this claim is most important during times of insolvency when common stockholders are last in line for the company’s assets. This means that when the company must liquidate and pay all creditors and bondholders, common stockholders will not receive any money until after the preferred shareholders are paid out.

Secondly, the dividends of preferred stocks are different from and generally greater than those of common stock. When you buy a preferred stock, you will have an idea of when to expect a dividend because they are paid at regular intervals. This is not necessarily the case for common stock, as the company’s board of directors will decide whether or not to pay out a dividend. Because of this characteristic, preferred stock typically don’t fluctuate as often as a company’s common stock and dividends are typically guaranteed, meaning that if the company misses one, it will be required to pay it before any future dividends are paid on either stock.

Preferred stock are sometimes referred to as hybrid securities due to its bond-like characteristics. Like bonds, preferred have a par value which is affected by interest rates. When interest rates rise, the value of the preferred stock declines and vice versa. With common stocks however, the value of shares is regulated by demand and supply of the market participants.

Unlike common shares, preferreds have a callability feature which gives the issuer the right to redeem the shares from the market after a predetermined time.

Finally, preferred shares can be converted to a fixed number of common shares, but common shares don’t have this benefit.

Looking up a preferred stock’s quote is as easy as looking up the quote for a common share. For example,an investor that wants to look up the quote of both common and preferred for Wells Fargo would use the ticker symbol WFC for common shares and WFC.PRX, WFCPRX, or WFC-PX for the company’s Series X Class A preferred stock.

To sum up: a good way to think of a preferred stock is as a security with characteristics somewhere in-between a bond and a common stock.

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Total Views: 3,32,450

April 9, 2017

Govt to supply solar lamps in low electrification villages across 5 states

Business & Commerce

Imarticus Learning partners with EY, launches Prodegree

by TrickyScribe April 4, 2017

written by TrickyScribe

Imarticus Learning has entered into a strategic partnership with EY, a pioneer in the financial services and advisory space to launch the Financial Analysis Prodegree. EY will act as the knowledge provider and share its industry-leading expertise in corporate finance and financial analysis. Imarticus and EY have signed an MOU in February 2017 to formalize this partnership.

Objective

Globally, the financial services industry faces a tremendous obstacle in attracting and retaining talent, which is hindering its growth. The specific objective of the collaboration between Imarticus and EY is to nurture talent in order to bridge the skill gap and create job-ready candidates with industry-aligned skillsets for placement at global investment banks and financial services firms.

Demand for Financial Analysis

In India, with the expansion of the financial sector, there are fantastic job opportunities for financial analysts in the financial hubs of Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. Liberalization has opened up tremendous opportunities in IPOs, FDI and FIIs as well as the mutual fund industry, all of which require expert knowledge in financial analysis.

Globally, employment opportunities for financial analysts are projected to grow 12% from 2014 to 2024, faster than the average for all occupations. A growing range of financial products and the need for in-depth knowledge of geographic regions are expected to lead to strong employment growth.

The 180-hour Prodegree features a cutting-edge curriculum with a judicious mix of academics and practical learning, catering to both novices and experienced candidates with application across investment banking, M&A, private equity and research. Its key highlights include:

Comprehensive coverage: The curriculum covers financial accounting and statement analysis, financial modeling and valuation, equity research, corporate finance strategy, Excel and PowerPoint and aptitude training.

Learning methodology: Delivery using a combination of self-paced videos, live lectures, industry case studies, project work and simulations.

Job readiness: Extensive interview prep, resume building and mock interviews, along with personal development.

Delivery formats: Option of choosing a classroom or an online training format.

EY as Knowledge Provider

EY will be closely involved in the program design and execution. Drawing on its extensive expertise in valuations, EY will share real-world case studies for analysis in class and record instructor videos exclusively for this program. The participants will also directly interact with EY leadership through roughly 15 hours of program delivery in each batch.

Speaking on the collaboration, Partner – Valuation and Business Modelling Group, EY, Sorabh Kataria, said, “Imarticus Learning have made a name for themselves in the financial training arena, having trained over 12,000 students. Likewise, EY is considered an industry leader in accounting and analysis. So, it made sense for us to collaborate and co-create a course on financial analysis. We will be closely working with Imarticus to share real case studies, record videos and do periodic lectures with each batch to share our know-how and expertise with the next-generation of analysts.”

Managing Director of Imarticus Learning, Nikhil Barshikar, said, “We are extremely proud of this partnership with EY, a global powerhouse in financial services and advisory. What is even more commendable is that EY is closely involved in the program – right from curriculum design, to creating Expert Speak videos, sharing real case studies and even doing program delivery. This collaboration with EY promises to deliver a whole new generation of financial analysts who are ready from Day 1.”

Total Views: 3,33,050

April 4, 2017

Business & Commerce

MobiKwik latched on as Paytm announced 2% fee

by TrickyScribe March 10, 2017

written by TrickyScribe

India’s mobile wallet companies have a knack for being in the news. Just a day after Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led market leader Paytm said it will levy 2% fee for adding money to the wallet using credit cards, arch-rival MobiKwik has announced that it will continue to offer “free” uploading of money to its wallet, including from credit cards.

MobiKwik founder and CEO Bipin Preet Singh said, “In order to popularise the government’s vision of a cash-less society, we at MobiKwik have decided not to charge 2% on credit card recharges so that more people can transact online without having to worry about additional charges.”

While announcing the charge, One97 Communications Ltd-run Paytm had said that “misuse” by many users had necessitated the step.

“We saw a disturbing trend when many users started funding their Paytm wallet with their credit cards and transferring it to the bank all for free. They were not only getting free loyalty points which effectively is free cash but also getting access to free credit,” Paytm had said.

It went on to explain that “Paytm pays hefty charges when you use your credit card to card networks and issuing banks. If a user simply adds money and takes to bank, we lose money. Our revenue model requires users to spend money within our network.”

“Some financially savvy users (surprisingly many of them employees of national financial institutions) exploited this model to rotate money, and at Paytm’s cost,” the blog added.

However, the 2% fee on credit card transfers would be reversed in the form of a gift voucher for the same amount, which will be issued within 24 hours via email and SMS. The company added that users need to add more than Rs 250 using a credit card to be eligible for cashback.

But the company also made it clear that it will not charge any fee if a user shops on Paytm or pays for utilities using his credit card. Also, there is no credit card fee on transactions done using Paytm on its partner apps like Uber, Zomato, BigBasket and Swiggy, among others.

Paytm has encouraged users to add money to the wallet via UPI and IMPS.

MobiKwik sees opportunity
Even though it understands the loophole, MobiKwik is ready to bear the cost. When contacted, a MobiKwik spokesperson told VCCircle, “People don’t pay anything when they use their credit cards to transfer money to their bank accounts routed through the wallet. This is the loophole. But, people who are doing it are a very small percentage, almost negligible. Hence, continuing our focus on customer acquisitions and increasing transactions on our platform, we have decided not to levy such charges.”

MobiKwik’s latest announcement is clearly directed at gaining more customers and, perhaps, attracting some from rivals. Ever since demonetisation happened, mobile wallet companies have had a dream run, clocking unprecedented numbers. However, it’s been a lop-sided affair with the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company pocketing most of the spoils. If their claims are to be believed, Paytm now has 200 million customers (including individuals and merchants) while MobiKwik’s individual user count stands at 55 million and merchant count is about 1.4 million.

Another major wallet company FreeCharge did not reply to an email from VCCircle seeking its stance on the issue.

Cutting losses
Paytm’s move seems to be in line with other players in the ecosystem, such as banks, looking to cut their losses that they have been incurring since the days of demonetisation. Mobile wallet players also announced a lot of freebies for both individuals and merchants at that point, to attract customers. However, the announcement by Paytm shows that even wallet companies are looking to plug avoidable leaks in the system.

Commenting on the issue,Sanjay Khan Nagra, senior associate at law firm Khaitan & Co, said, “Paytm has enough customers of its own, and they can afford to let go of those super elites in India who use credit cards to load and transfer money. It doesn’t really impact them in the long run. At some level, these credit card companies are also rivals to Paytm because at the merchant level both of them are competing in the payments space. And when you allow customers to transfer money to Paytm through credit cards and take credit points, it’s the credit card companies who benefit.”

Moreover, when we compare Paytm and MobiKwik, Paytm has a larger customer base than its rivals’, so its losses from said activity would have been a lot more, Nagra pointed out.

And, at some point it had to stop, he believes, as going forward “the issue itself will become redundant as there is no future of credit card companies in the long run”.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s Charles Munger, who also owns some stake in American Express, recently said he doesn’t see a very bright future for credit card companies. While explaining the credit card ecosystem, Nagra said, “On credit card, at all places there’s some charge because at some points payments would have gone to the these credit card companies and banks who are enabling those payments. Aadhaar Pay is launching soon in India, which will enable merchants to accept payments through biometric authentication/thumb impression. Credit card companies in the world exist because they make money out of payments and that, in itself, is to go out soon. There will not be much use of credit cards.”

Total Views: 3,36,050

March 10, 2017

Changing Climate in Hindu Kush Himalayas

Business & Commerce Geopolitics

Troubled Waters

by TrickyScribe November 30, 2016

written by TrickyScribe

@ScribeTricky

Water, according to leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm Goldman Sachs, is the ‘petroleum of the next century’ and is one of the most immediate prerequisites for the survival of the humanity, has been the cradle for civilizations since time immemorial.

Disputes around the issue of water are too numerous to be encapsulated here. Be it Indus or Cauvery. Issue remains the same. No exceptions!

But latest spike in the number of water dispute in the South Asian sub continent is a reflection of larger global trend that is casting its shadow on the hitherto water sufficient region of the globe.

With India threatening Pakistan for using the share of Indus water that ‘rightfully belongs to India’; the domestic water war has plagued India itself for too long.

In India, the federal fabric happens to be under severe strains owing to surge in the number of inter-state water disputes. Many of the disputes that surfaced recently have a long duree, nonetheless, the intense passion and jingoism that was put on show is alarming.

The larger issue, however, is still to be framed in the debate, the issue of water intensive lifestyle.

Modern day technology has been a transformative experience in Anthropocene. The tremendous impact has affected us in many ways. Right from our daily chores to agriculture, we have been adding many ways to enrich our water intensive lifestyle.

Sugarcane, for an example, was grown in areas that had high water supply. Blessed with irrigation facilities, areas that were hitherto water deficient have started growing the water intensive crop, thereby increasing the water appetite for the region.

From car washes to frequent flushes in restrooms, we have been wasting waters in numerously creative ways which our forefathers didn’t. It is not to say that these habits are to be forbidden but to mark that our water appetite has grown humongously. The find equilibrium is nowhere close to horizon.

Politics of freebies:

From waving of water rent to supply of free electricity for the pump sets, political elite has always been hand-in-gloves with our water intensive lifestyle and has further incentivised it.

Politics of Water:

Often to gain extra marks from the potential voters, political parties especially those with regional orientation fuel the issue and provoke passion.

Adhocism has backfired:

Use of force by the State to curb the violence or judicial intervention can only provide ad hoc arrangement. The intermittent water disputes, plaguing the sub-continent, need to be addressed in a comprehensive way. That too, at the earliest!

Rather than going on for ad hoc arrangement we need to revitalise our lifestyle to be more water efficient.

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed,”
Mahatma Gandhi.

Total Views: 3,48,050

November 30, 2016

Business & Commerce India Public Health & Nutrition

Oxitec to test genetically tweaked diamondback moth

by Staff Correspondent June 17, 2016

written by Staff Correspondent

The moth damages $5 billion worth of cruciferous crops annually worldwide

An half-inch-long moth that devours kale, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts may not inspire the same fear as a Zika-carrying mosquito, but the two insects have something in common. Both are being genetically tweaked by UK-based biotech firm Oxitec. Last year, the company made news when it proposed a Florida-based trial of a self-destructive mosquito—designed to stop the spread of Zika virus in native Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

DNA spiral model

Now, Oxitec wants to test a genetically modified version of the male diamondback moth to mate with—and eventually destroy—a pest that damages $5 billion worth of cruciferous crops every year worldwide. Like the mosquito, the moth passed laboratory and greenhouse trials and now must pass approval in an open field test. But while the mosquito had to wind its way through the FDA, Oxitec’s moth faces a different set of regulatory hurdles at the USDA. Officials at that agency are currently reviewing whether to allow Cornell University and Oxitec to release tens of thousands of GM moths into a 10-acre site in New York.

For decades, agricultural researchers have battled insect pests that are growing resistant to chemical pesticides. The diamondback moth has a short reproductive cycle and lays a lot of eggs, which speeds up the development of resistance. “It is able to select for resistance for a wide variety of toxins,” says University of Georgia entomologist David Riley. “If I had to pick a poster child for resistance worldwide, this would be in my top 10.”

Already, the diamondback moth has become resistant to 95 different chemical compounds. That’s a huge problem for growers in southern states like Georgia and Florida, where up to 15 generations of veggie-munching larvae are born every year on constantly rotating crop fields.

In the past, scientists have released sterile male insects—zapped with gamete-bursting radiation—to help crash the population of pests like the New World screwworm (which infected livestock and people) or the onion maggot. But this would be the first GM sterile pest control effort.

Oxitec scientists made two tweaks to their moth. The first is the killer. “Our diamondback moth carries a self-limiting gene, that prevents female offspring from surviving to adulthood,” says Oxitec research lead Neil Morrison. “This allows us to release adult males only, which are harmless to the crop. When they mate with a pest female in the field, none of her female progeny would survive.” The next generation of larvae won’t have any female moths to mate with—and the population dies off. They also added a gene for a protein that glows red under UV light. Why? That’s so researchers can distinguish the trial moths from wild diamondback moths and see if the GM moths (imported from the UK) are spreading beyond the test site.

USDA officials have already received more than 600 public comments on the GM diamondback moth proposal since the docket opened last month. Backers include ag scientists and biotechnology advocates like Nobel chemistry laureate Richard Roberts, who argues that reducing pesticides will boost food production. “The food security challenge ahead is formidable—especially given the fragile environment—and the innovation pipeline must be enabled to drive sustainable growth in agriculture,” Roberts wrote. octopus-inc-designing-and-printing

But other commenters, like Dana Marsh of Bloomington, Ind., worry about the unintended consequences of releasing a GM moth. If a gene drive escapes beyond the targeted area and proliferates widely, it could engineer the destruction of an entire species. “As of today, we do not have complete understanding of how every insect and plant works,” Marsh wrote. “We still do not grasp the diversity that currently exists. The consequences of genetic engineering are untold and could prove fatal to our precious ecosystem. PLEASE leave nature alone.”

The company says any GM moths that survive the experiment will be killed by pesticides or the region’s cold winters. Still, some local organic farmers say the dead larvae produced when genetically engineered males mate with female moths could stay on the vegetables and pose potential risks to the environment and health. “The release of any novel organism into the open is a significant issue,” Liana Hoodes, policy adviser for the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York told Bloomberg BNA. “Clearly, insects don’t stay in the borders of the land that’s owned by Cornell.”

USDA officials are accepting comments until May 19. Oxitec said if its trial is approved, the trial would take less than a month to complete—though that timeline might be ambitious. Oxitec’s genetically engineered mosquito has been released in parts of Grand Cayman, Panama, and Brazil—places where Zika is a big threat. But even though the Florida trial was approved by residents of Monroe County, those plans have stalled: No single neighborhood wants to be the site of the mosquito release. The same may be true for a 10-acre plot in upstate New York.

Total Views: 3,67,970

June 17, 2016

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