Endeavor Careers Choicest Blogs: Weekly Current Affairs: March 2022, Week 03

Welcome to the Endeavor Editors’ Weekly Current Affairs Choicest Blog series. Get a weekly roundup – on news from business, economy, markets, policy, and more. A quick capsule format news summary and update to keep you abreast with all the latest current affairs.

1) International News and Global Economy

Russians push deeper into Mariupol as locals plead for help

Russian forces pushed deeper into Ukraine’s besieged and battered port city of Mariupol on Saturday, where heavy fighting shut down a major steel plant and local authorities pleaded for more Western help. The fall of Mariupol, the scene of some of the war’s worst suffering, would mark a major battlefield advance for the Russians, who are largely bogged down outside major cities more than three weeks into the biggest land invasion in Europe since World War II. Russian forces have already cut Mariupol off from the Sea of Azov, and its fall would link Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, to eastern territories controlled by Moscow-backed separatists. It would mark a rare advance in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance that has dashed Russia’s hopes for a quick victory and galvanized the West.

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Mariupol terror will go down in history, Ukraine’s Zelensky says – BBC News

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Ukraine’s Zelensky tells Russia to hold peace talks now or suffer for generations

President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Saturday for comprehensive peace talks with Moscow to stop its invasion of Ukraine, saying it would otherwise take Russia “several generations” to recover from its losses in the war. Russian forces have taken heavy losses and their advance has largely stalled since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the assault on Feb. 24, with long columns of troops that bore down on Kyiv halted in its suburbs. On Saturday, Russia said its hypersonic missiles had destroyed a large underground depot for missiles and aircraft ammunition in the western Ivano-Frankivsk region. Hypersonic weapons can travel faster than five times the speed of sound and the Interfax agency said it was the first time Russia had used them in Ukraine. Zelensky has said the refusal to compromise would come at a steep price. “I want everyone to hear me now, especially in Moscow. The time has come for a meeting, it is time to talk,” he said in a video address early on Saturday. “The time has come to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia’s losses will be such that it will take you several generations to recover.”

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Russia Ukraine Conflict Day 23: Hundreds feared trapped in Ukraine theater hit by an airstrike

Hundreds feared trapped in Ukraine theater hit by airstrike; White House encourages Indian leaders to work with the US to oppose Russian invasion; US President Joe Biden calls Vladimir Putin a ‘war criminal’.

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China on the right side of history over Ukraine war: Foreign minister

China stands on the right side of history over the Ukraine crisis as time will tell, and its position is in line with the wishes of most countries, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. “China will never accept any external coercion or pressure, and opposes any unfounded accusations and suspicions against China,” Wang told reporters on Saturday evening, according to a statement published by his ministry on Sunday. Wang’s comments came after U.S. President Joe Biden warned his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Friday of “consequences” if Beijing gave material support to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. During the video call, Xi told Biden the war in Ukraine must end as soon as possible and called on NATO nations to hold a dialogue with Moscow. He did not, however, assign blame to Russia, according to Beijing’s statements about the call.

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US warns China against helping Russia in Ukraine invasion – BBC News

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Ukraine war ups pressure for US oil; industry faces hurdles

President Joe Biden’s move to ban Russian oil imports over its invasion of Ukraine was met with Republican demands to boost US production to address high gasoline prices. The White House, too, called for more drilling and cited the war as it shelved Biden’s campaign pledge to curb drilling on public lands because of climate change. with the industry’s reality: There are not enough workers to rapidly expand, scant money to invest in drilling, and wariness that today’s high prices won’t last, according to industry representatives, analysts, and state officials. “It would be great to produce more domestically,” McDermott said. “(But) it’s so volatile. … We haven’t had any access to capital for years. If we drilled, money would have to come from existing production. It’s a risky business.” Republicans from energy states have brushed past the industry’s logistical constraints to pin the blame for slow US oil growth on Democrats and Biden.

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World lenders see widespread economic fallout: Ukraine

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and other top global lenders have warned of “extensive” economic fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and expressed horror at the “devastating human catastrophe”. “The entire global economy will feel the effects of the crisis through slower growth, trade disruptions, and steeper inflation, harming especially the poorest and most vulnerable,” they said in a joint statement, warning that the conflict was increasing poverty. The Ukraine crisis has sent oil prices rocketing close to record levels of close to $140 per barrel, while other commodities including aluminum, coal, copper, natural gas, nickel, tin, wheat, and zinc have hit historic highs on supply fears. The finance bodies also warned that the fast-moving crisis would hobble the world economy’s recovery from coronavirus.

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Why does Ukraine want a no-fly zone, why is NATO reluctant?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has renewed his call to NATO to impose a no-fly zone over the country. However, NATO leaders have said they aren’t willing as they fear that such a move could drag them into a broader war with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that any nation that tried to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine would in effect be “participating in the armed conflict”, hinting at a threat of Russian retaliation. So, what is a no-fly zone? Why does Ukraine want a no-fly zone? Why is NATO reluctant?

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2) India

EU hikes tariffs on India, Indonesia stainless steel imports

The European Union will increase tariffs on stainless steel products from India and Indonesia after determining they benefited from unfair subsidies, including some from China under its Belt and Road investment program. The European Commission, which conducted the investigation, has set the anti-subsidy duties on stainless steel cold-rolled flat products at rates of between 4.3% and 21.4%, the EU official journal said on Wednesday. The Commission said the subsidies took the form of preferential loans, duty exemptions, and cheap provision of raw materials, partly because of export restrictions for those materials. Indonesia also benefited from subsidies to help build up its stainless steel industry from China, which in return benefited from taking up a larger share of Indonesia’s nickel ore exports. This is the European Union’s second investigation into trans-national Chinese subsidies. In 2020, the bloc imposed duties on glass fiber fabrics and products from Chinese companies or joint venture operations in Egypt.

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India to buy Russian discounted crude. Which other nations have bought?

India’s decision to buy discounted crude oil from Russia – despite sanctions imposed by the West over Moscow’s ‘illegal’ war on Ukraine – led to disapproving comments from the United States. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said buying Russian oil did not violate US sanctions against Moscow but she urged India to ‘think about where you want to stand when history books are written’. However, Indian government sources said “legitimate energy transactions should not be politicized” and it was pointed out Russia sells more oil to other countries, including those that have sanctioned Moscow, than India. It was also pointed out many of these countries continue to buy Russian oil.

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India defies U.S pressure: Top refineries IOC, HPMCL buy Russian crude oil at discounted rates

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What is Par Tapi Narmada river-linking project & why are tribals in Gujarat protesting against it?

On March 21, the tribals in Gujarat will hold a public meeting in Kaprada in Valsad district to protest against the Centre’s Par Tapi Narmada river-linking project. This will be the fourth such protest meet after the first on February 28 in Dharampur of Valsad district, the second one on March 5 in Vyara of Tapi district, and the third meet on March 11, in Dang district. What is the Par Tapi Narmada river link project, why are tribals protesting and how will it affect the BJP government in Gujarat ahead of assembly elections?

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Looking beyond ‘Kashmir Files’, catharsis & closure need justice, for all cases of mass injustice

Shekhar Gupta explains why it’s ridiculous that the ‘Kashmir Files’ debate is trapped in questions like how many Pandits were killed and we are still reducing great tragedy to an argument over a scorecard of killings. Why catharsis & closure need justice, for all cases of mass injustice.

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Decoding HC verdict on Hijab, Islam & school uniform

As the Karnataka High court delivers its judgment on the hijab row, Shekhar Gupta reads into the detailed judgment upholding the right of the practice schools to prescribe a uniform for all. Where does the 3-judge bench get its conclusions from and why is it significant.

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3) Economy

Iran ready to meet India’s energy needs moots relaunching rupee-rial mechanism

Iran has offered to help India meet its energy needs by relaunching rupee-rial trade for export of oil and gas, said Iranian ambassador to India Ali Chegeni. Chegeni said if both the countries resume rupee-rial trade, bilateral trade can touch USD 30 billion. Iran used to be India’s second-largest oil supplier but New Delhi had to halt imports after the former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran and re-imposed sanctions on its oil exports. “Iran is ready to meet India’s energy security needs by launching rupee-rial trade for export of oil and gas,” Chegeni was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the MVIRDC World Trade Center. It can be noted that New Delhi and Tehran had a barter-like mechanism for trade settlement, wherein Indian oil refiners were paying in rupees to a local Iranian bank and the funds were used by Tehran to pay for imports from India.

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4) Markets, Banking, and Finance

Why India’s forex reserves fell by nearly $10 billion, highest in 2 years

India’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $9.64 billion to $622.275 billion during the week ending March 11, 2022, as the rupee depreciated against the US dollar amid the rise in crude oil prices and capital outflows due to sustained selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). This is the biggest fall in reserves in nearly two years after it plunged by $11.98 billion during the week ending March 20, 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit India and FPIs pulled out funds. The main components of forex reserves are foreign currency assets (FCA), gold holdings, and SDRs (special drawing rights) of the International Monetary Fund. The RBI sold dollars from its FCA kitty — kept in global central banks, foreign banks, and foreign securities — to strengthen the rupee.

For details visit here.

5) Business

Google accused of systemic racial bias in a lawsuit

A lawsuit has accused Google of systemic racial bias against Black employees, saying the search engine company steers them to lower-level jobs, pays them less, and denies them opportunities to advance because of their race. According to a complaint seeking class-action status, Google maintains a “racially biased corporate culture” that favors white men, where Black people comprise only 4.4% of employees and about 3% of leadership and its technology workforce. The complaint was filed in the federal court in San Jose, California. It came after that state’s civil rights regulator, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, began investigating Google’s treatment of Black female workers and possible discrimination in their workplace.

For details visit here.

GM buys SoftBank’s $2.1-billion stake in cruise Robo-car unit

General Motors Co bought out the SoftBank Vision Fund 1’s stake in self-driving startup Cruise for $2.1 billion, ending the Japanese investment firm’s involvement in the business and giving the Detroit automaker 80% ownership. GM also said on Friday it will invest another $1.35 billion in Cruise, which makes up for the amount that SoftBank had pledged to invest in the startup once the company deploys vehicles in a ride-sharing business, something it is preparing to do. The deal consolidates GM’s ownership and control over Cruise and reverses a capital diversification play by former chief executive officer Dan Ammann, who was fired in December after pushing for an initial public offering. For SoftBank, the sale marks a nice return on a nearly four-year investment. The fund initially committed $2.25 billion for an 11% stake in Cruise in May 2018. The first $900 million was to come at once, with $1.35 billion payable once vehicles were ready for commercialization. SoftBank contributed about $300 million in additional funding subsequently.

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India-Japan Annual Summit: Japan announces investment target of Rs 3.2 lakh crore, launches clean energy partnership

Japan has announced a $5-trillion or Rs 3,20,000-crore investment target in India for the next five years, following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. The Japanese Prime Minister arrived in India on March 19 for his two-day visit, which entailed addressing the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit. The two sides inked six agreements providing for the expansion of bilateral cooperation in a range of areas, besides firming a separate clean energy partnership. The clean energy partnership will focus on electric vehicles, storage systems including batteries, charging infrastructure, and hydrogen. The six agreements that both nations signed include a Memorandum of Cooperation on cybersecurity, a Memorandum on Sustainable Urban Development, and an agreement on decentralized wastewater management. “There has been progress in the economic partnership between India- Japan economic partnership. Japan is one of the largest investors in India. India-Japan are working as ‘One team- One project’ on Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor”, noted PM Modi.

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“Japan aims to invest $42 billion over next 5 Years in India”: PM Modi

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Diesel price for bulk users hiked Rs 25/liter; private retailers stare at closure

The price of diesel sold to bulk users has been hiked by about Rs 25 per liter in line with a nearly 40 percent rise in international oil prices, but retail rates at petrol pumps remain unchanged, sources said. Petrol pump sales have jumped by a fifth this month after bulk users like bus fleet operators and malls queued up at petrol bunks to buy fuel rather than the usual practice of ordering directly from oil companies, widening the losses of retailers. In 2008, Reliance Industries had shut all of its 1,432 petrol pumps in the country after sales dropped to almost nil as it could not match the subsidized price offered by the public sector competition. A similar scenario may unfold again as retailers’ losses widen from bulk users being diverted to petrol pumps, they said.

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Suzuki announces Rs 10,440 crore investment in Gujarat for EV and battery manufacturing

Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) Sunday said it will invest Rs 10,440 crore (approx 150 billion yen) for local manufacturing of electric vehicles (BEV) and BEV batteries. Of this, Rs 3100 crore will be invested to increase manufacturing capacity for electric vehicles at Suzuki Motor Gujarat in 2025, Rs 7300 crore for setting up a plant for manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles in 2026. The remaining resources will be utilized to set up a vehicle recycling plant by Maruti Suzuki Toyotsu in 2025. SMC signed an MoU with the State of Gujarat on 19 March 2022 at the India-Japan Economic Forum held in New Delhi, India, in the presence of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

For details visit here.

Automakers fast-track partnerships in battery-swap market to hasten EV adoption

In a bid to hasten the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and relieve customers from range anxiety, automakers, energy companies, and startups have begun fast-tracking partnerships in the emerging battery-swap market. Such tie-ups will enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to reduce upfront costs of acquisition by at least 40-50%, leading to increased adoption and sales, experts say. Bengaluru-based startup Bounce this week announced a partnership with Greaves Retail, making the latter the first to join the Bounce Infinity battery-swap network. Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said, “With disruptive business models such as battery swapping, leasing, etc., consumers need not own the asset–battery, which is ~50% of the total vehicle cost–bringing down the upfront vehicle cost for e2w and e3w (electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers) much below the ICE (internal combustion engine) counterparts.” The government think tank is expected to roll out a battery swapping policy in the next three-four months that could play a key role in enabling the EV industry to reach a critical scale.

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RevFin eyeing up to Rs 40,000 crore in loans over the next five years

Electric vehicle financier RevFin is looking at disbursing Rs 40,000 crore in loans to buy two-, three- and four-wheelers deployed for commercial use over the next five years. The company expects strong demand for loans, driven by high fuel prices, incentives rolled out by the central and state governments, and renewed emphasis by e-commerce companies to electrify their last-mile delivery fleets. Sameer Aggarwal, the founder of RevFin which has been financing the purchase of electric vehicles since 2018, said in the last six to nine months, the market had recognized the need to move to EVs due to their substantially lower running costs. With EV acquisition costs set to come at par with internal combustion engine vehicles in the next two to three years, the market for electric vehicles for commercial use is expected to grow to $150 billion by the end of the decade, he said, citing industry studies.

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6) Technology

Explained: The UK online safety bill that seeks to regulate Big Tech

In what could become among the strictest regulations on Big Tech, the UK government has introduced the Online Safety Bill in the British Parliament. The passing of the law could see top executives at big-tech companies facing jail time, sooner than anticipated before, should they fail to comply with a slew of requirements put forth by the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) — a government-approved regulatory and competition authority for broadcasting, telecom and postal industries. The bill proposes that executives of social media platforms whose companies fail to cooperate with Ofcom’s information requests can now face prosecution or jail time within two months of the bill becoming law, instead of two years as it was previously drafted. These executives could be held criminally liable for destroying evidence, failing to attend or providing false information in interviews with Ofcom, and obstructing the regulator when it enters company offices. Ofcom will also have the power to fine companies failing to comply with the laws up to 10 percent of their annual global turnover, force them to improve their practices, and block non-compliant sites.

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Online safety bill holds tech firms to account

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Zomato, Blinkit sign deal for a merger, to move CCI soon for approval

Online food delivery firm Zomato and online grocer Blinkit have signed up for a merger in an all-stock deal which is likely to be at a down round for a valuation of $700 million, sources privy to the development told Moneycontrol. Blinkit last raised $100 million from Zomato in a round that gave the company a unicorn status. The deal signals towards the beginning of a consolidation in the quick commerce space in India. The public-listed food-tech firm will be approaching the Competition Commission of India for approval soon. Following the stock swap, Blinkit’s lead investor Softbank will get around a 4 percent stake in Zomato. It must be noted that Softbank already is an investor in rival Swiggy.

For details visit here.

Zomato comes to Blinkit’s rescue with $150 Million loans | Startup Street

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Unicorns of 2022: Mediatech startup Amagi becomes 13th entrant to billion-dollar club

As we head into the third month of 2022, the Indian startup ecosystem has already added 13 new entrants to the coveted $1 billion valuation club. The country is already cheering in its new unicorns — Fractal (advanced analytics), LEAD (edtech), Darwinbox (HRtech), DealShare (social commerce), Polygon (blockchain), Livspace (home interior and renovation), ElasticRun (B2B e-commerce), Xpressbees(logistics), Uniphore (conversational AI), Hasura (GraphQL developer), CredAvenue (fintech), Perfios (fintech), and the latest, Amagi (mediatech). The year 2021 saw the emergence of 44 startup unicorns against a cumulative number of 33 unicorns from 2011 to 2020. Given the record-breaking year of 2021, in terms of fund inflow and the emergence of unicorns from the Indian startup ecosystem, 2022 is expected to continue the momentum.

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How Eruditus built a global business around executive education — organically

Emeritus is part of the Eruditus Group, founded by Ashwin Damera and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu in 2010, and last valued at $3.2 billion in August 2021. While the Mumbai-headquartered edtech unicorn now has a war chest for M&A, its journey to gross $505 million in bookings for the fiscal year ended June 2022 has been almost entirely organic. Its first acquisition only happened in May last year — iD Tech — for $200 million. Eruditus’ growth has played out over a decade in the backdrop of MOOC (massive open online courses) platforms like Coursera, Udacity, and EdX. While Coursera went public on the New York Stock Exchange a year ago, EdX got acquired by 2U. Their courses are built in partnership with universities, whereas Udacity has evolved into a technical training platform that partners with companies like Google. The MOOC highway helped Coursera scale up to nearly 97 million registered learners — and, the revenue of $415.3 million — in 2021. In contrast, Eruditus’ annual bookings of $505 million have come on the back of 3 million registered learners.

For details visit here.

7) Politics

Yogi 2.0 govt to be sworn in on 25th March

The new government in Uttar Pradesh under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath will take oath on March 25 evening at Lucknow’s Ikana Stadium. The BJP has appointed home minister Amit Shah as the observer for the legislative party meeting, scheduled for Monday. On Monday, after the legislative party meeting, Shah and Adityanath would meet to give the final shape to the new cabinet. Around two dozen ministers are expected to take oath along with chief minister Adityanath on March 25. The party is planning to hold the function in the presence of around 50,000 people. It plans to invite the beneficiaries of government schemes, a voter class the BJP believes is the reason for the party’s victory in the state. After the meeting on Monday, BJP district presidents would be informed about organizing the travel of such people from their districts to the capital, the party insiders said.

For details visit here.

Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu resigns

Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu on Tuesday resigned from his post after taking moral responsibility for the party’s humiliating defeat in the state assembly polls. The move comes after Congress president Sonia Gandhi asked the chiefs of its Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, and Manipur units to resign amid continued rumblings in the party following its abject loss in the assembly elections in these states.

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Swearing-in of new BJP govt in Goa to take place between Mar 23-25; PM to attend: Party leaders

The swearing-in ceremony of the new BJP government in Goa, where the party has emerged as the single largest political force by winning 20 out of a total of 40 Assembly seats, will tentatively take place between March 23 and 25, senior party leaders said on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leaders will remain present for the event, they said. The BJP, which has secured the support of two Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLAs and three Independents, is yet to stake claim to form the new government in the coastal state, where the assembly poll results were declared on March 10.

For details visit here.

8) Sports

Russia loses bid to freeze ban from World Cup qualifying

Russia’s request to freeze a FIFA ban on its soccer teams ahead of next week’s World Cup qualifying playoffs was denied Friday. FIFA said the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed the Russian soccer federation’s bid for an urgent interim ruling to freeze the ban pending a full appeal, which could come within weeks. The CAS decision means Russia will not be able to play Poland in World Cup qualifying on Thursday. The latest ruling follows a similar CAS refusal on Tuesday to freeze UEFA’s ban on Russian national and club teams in European soccer. Russian athletes have been banned from competing in multiple sports because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Belarusian athletes have also been banned because their country has been an ally of Russia.

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All England Open 2022: India’s Lakshya Sen defeats Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, books spot in final

India’s Lakshya Sen on March 19 ended Malaysian shuttler Lee Zii Jia England Open campaign by defeating him in the semi-finals. Lakshya stunned the defending champion 21-13, 12-21, 21-19, and will face either Viktor Axelsen or Chou Tien-Chen in the finals. The 20-year-old shuttler has now become the only 5th Indian shutter to reach the final at the prestigious Super 1000 tournament. Prior to him, only Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980 and 1981), and Pulle Gopichand (2001) have been there. Prakash Padukone and Gopichand have won the prestigious title for India in the past. Earlier, the Indian badminton player won the world championships bronze in 2021 before winning his maiden Super 500 title at the India Open earlier this year. Last week, Lakshya reached the final of the German Open.

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Jay Shah’s term as ACC president extended by one year

BCCI secretary Jay Shah’s tenure as president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) was on March 19 unanimously extended by a year at its annual general meeting in Colombo. Shah had taken over the reins of the ACC in January last year from Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan, making him the youngest administrator to be re-appointed as ACC president. Shah had taken over the reins of the ACC in January last year from Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan, making him the youngest administrator to be re-appointed as ACC president. Shah’s extension was proposed by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president Shammi Silva and the nomination was backed unanimously by all the members of the ACC. Shah’s extension was proposed by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president Shammi Silva and the nomination was backed unanimously by all the members of the ACC.

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9) Opinion

The Rather Pathetic Economy of Russia

How large and powerful is Russia’s economy today? What stopped the growth it was experiencing in the early 2000s. Is it in a position where it can justify a conflict as costly as the one going on?

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Why India, the poorest of super-emitters, will need a different path to net-zero

India’s target date to reach net-zero is 2070. That’s two decades after the far wealthier U.S. and Europe. And it includes an additional 10-year cushion separating it from its neighbor China’s 2060 goal. Trying for more severe cuts to emissions much sooner could leave millions of Indians struggling for access to basic staples, including the delivery of more air conditioning to a nation that’s extremely vulnerable to heat waves. In fact, India’s challenges maintaining its fragile electric grid under the ever-increasing demand fueled by warming temperatures is a matter of life and death. For India, with its historically minor responsibility for planet-warming pollution, there’s a goal more urgent than taming climate change: lifting millions out of poverty over the next few decades. While American drivers choose from electric pickup trucks, eventually decreasing demand for oil, India is struggling to reduce its growing bill for imported fuel. While British policymakers craft subsidies to retrofit old houses for energy efficiency, India’s focus is on ensuring energy bills are as low as possible. And while New Zealand burnishes its climate standing by slashing methane emissions from its cattle farms, India still has to feed its growing population of 1.4 billion as more extreme weather events threaten agriculture.

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Is the worst FII selloff since GFC showing signs of abating soon?

As per the NSDL data, FPIs have now been net sellers of Indian equity for more than five consecutive months. Such a selling streak was last seen during the global financial crisis in 2008, wherein FPIs were net sellers for around seven months. In fact, since the start of the current fiscal, FPIs have pulled out funds to the tune of Rs 2.75 lakh crore in the equity cash segment, which is significantly higher than the cumulative money pumped in post the pandemic during May 2020-March 2021. The key triggers which led to FII’s unwinding their Indian investments were the overstretched valuations of Indian companies and the anticipation of a Taper Tantrum 2.0. This offload only intensified as the war began. From where we stand currently, the valuations of Indian markets have mellowed down and the geopolitical tensions are also abating. With Fed’s tapering of bond purchase now coming to its end and with enhanced clarity on the roadmap of policy rate hikes, the extravagant volatility is likely to moderate. Further, given India’s structural appeal among emerging markets and that some part of Russian allocations in foreign portfolios could find their way to India, FPIs may be poised to make a comeback sooner than later. This coupled with the already buoyant domestic participation can put bulls back in charge of markets.

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India-Russia oil trade: What is at stake?

In order to shield the economy from the negative impact of the recent surge in crude oil prices, India is exploring the possibility of importing additional oil at discounted rates from Russia, which is facing sanctions and global backlash due to the Ukraine conflict. According to commodities data and analytics firm Kpler, India’s import of crude oil from Russia in March this year so far is nearly four times higher when compared with the corresponding period of last year. “Already committed oil cargoes from Russia that can’t find buyers in Europe are being bought by India,” Financial Times quoted Alex Booth, head of research at Kpler, as saying. There is no government-to-government (G2G) arrangement for oil trade between India and Russia. The majority of the crude oil purchase from Russia for India has been done by Indian Oil Corporation.

For details visit here.

10) Weekly special

BoAt parent Imagine Marketing wants to turn into a house of brands for all-things electronics

Imagine Marketing Limited, the parent company of consumer electronics brand boAt Lifestyle, was pinning hopes of becoming the first Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brand in India filing for public listing. And now, this dream seems to be turning into a reality after it successfully managed to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in January 2022 to raise Rs 2,000 crore from the public markets. An IPO will be a crucial step in its journey of being a lifestyle company, which operates a house of brands, says Vivek Gambhir, CEO of Imagine Marketing.  One of the country’s largest direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, Imagine Marketing will utilize Rs 700 crore to prepay its borrowings, with the remaining amount earmarked for general corporate purposes. Vivek joined the company in February 2021 from Godrej Consumer Products and was among the first senior hires made by the company in preparation for its public listing. In charge of house-keeping at the company and with a sharp focus on profit and loss metrics by his own admission, Vivek says that raising the profile of the company will help it attract global investors and open opportunities for partnerships, as well as mergers and acquisitions.

For details visit here.

11) Did you know?

What are humanitarian Corridors, and how safe are they?

A humanitarian corridor is a type of temporary demilitarized zone intended to allow the safe transit of humanitarian aid in, and/or refugees out of a crisis region. These are safe passages that are created in a war zone by halting hostilities for a certain time – either to allow civilians to flee using designated routes or to allow urgent humanitarian aid to enter for civilians who remain. In most cases, humanitarian corridors are negotiated by the United Nations. Sometimes they’re also set up by local groups.

For details visit here.

With that, we come to an end for our Weekly Current Affairs March 2022 -Week 3. Hope you have liked it. Write your feedback in the comments below and let us know if there is anything else you would like us to cover.

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