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Good Morning,
Welcome to the first official newsletter! I hope you have your “Subah Kee Chai” ready and you're excited to read your weekly 10-minute digest.
I decided to call us Subah Kee Chai as us Indians love drinking a hot cup of tea when we read our morning news. The aim of this newsletter is to simplify the top stories into a 10-minute read. These stories are selected by an intense algorithm, my brain, and are purely a hand few of my favorites from the week.
I hope you enjoy this week's newsletter! At the end of it, you will have all the news you need to discuss with your family at the dinner table!
Now let’s get into the news.
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The market data presented above highlights the weekly progress on how the equity and commodity markets have performed. The "weekly % change" is the percentage change between Monday and Friday. This week the markets fluctuated roughly ending in the green. On Wednesday and Friday, the markets declined as Axis Bank, Induslnd and HDFC sat as the top losers. Traders blamed the recent spike in COVID-19 cases as the primary reason for uncertainty in the market causing a fluctuated performance. The price of gold steadily rose throughout the week, with crude oil ending positive as well. |
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What a speech!
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inaugural speech at the virtual India Global Week 2020 praised India's commitment towards future rebuilding and the promotion of Indian talent. India Global Week is a grand three-day event to discuss India's foreign trade and investment prospects; building a better India. In his speech, Prime Minister Modi gave two major reasons why India will play a key role in global economic development.
- India is talented
- India has the ability to reform and rejuvenate
India is a powerhouse in the technology industry, however, the road does not stop there as Indians are known to be hungry to enter and adapt to new fields and areas of practice. Lastly, Prime Minister Modi also highlighted the success India has had with the economic relief packages that were put in place to combat the negative effects of COVID-19. India plays a significant role in the world economy and will play a major part in global economic growth.
The Dream Team
The Indiaspora Business Leaders List, released this week, follows a similar suit to Prime Minister Modi's future vision towards making India a powerhouse in the world. The list includes 58 individuals of Indian origin who run the corporate world accounting for almost $1 trillion in revenue and employing 3.6 million people. The Dream Team:
- Sundhar Pichai - CEO of Alphabet
- Ajay Banga - CEO of Mastercard
- Raj Gupta - Former CEO of Rahm & Haas
- Indra Nooyi - Former CEO of PepsiCo
- Dinesh Paliwal - Former CEO of Harman International Industries
- And many more!
These pioneers, of Indian origin, shape, and influence the western corporate world and the global economy. Indians were always stereotyped for being solely skilled in technology, however, a number of Indians are breaking this stereotype by dominating a range of fields. Out of the 58 mentioned in the list, many individuals are specialized in consulting, banking, consumer goods, and electronics.
Big picture: In the past 20 years, Indians have had a major influence in the corporate world. As a result, a number of western conglomerates are realizing the impact it is having, proving beneficial for India and its future prospects.
Project REWA
On Friday, Prime Minister Modi launched the REWA Project, which is Asia's largest solar power project. The project is a 750-megawatt solar power plant split into three 250-megawatt solar-power generating units across 500 acres of land in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh. The energy generated from the solar power plant will be used to provide electricity to the entire state of Madhya Pradesh and will also extend to power the new Delhi metro. In addition, this switch to renewable solar energy will reduce carbon emissions by 15 lakh tons per year. In his speech at the inauguration, Prime Minister Modi stated that solar power is the way forward in the 21st century as it is "sure, pure and secure". As a result, he also claimed that this project makes India the most attractive market for clean energy in the world. |
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Pandemic Risk Pool
The Insurance Regulator and Development Authority (IRDAI) proposed the creation of a "pandemic risk pool". What's a risk pool? Risk pools are created when the government asks insurance companies to pool their resources to handle extreme damage caused by a particular event. In India, risk pools are usually created for natural disasters (INR 1500 Cr) and terrorist attacks (INR 1200 Cr). The IRDAI claimed that the current global pandemic has had a significant impact on the Indian economy as multiple industries, e.g. aviation, retail, automobile, etc. are struggling to manage their costs due to a lack of demand. As a result, they claim that a risk pool is feasible to support struggling industries to ensure the smooth running of the economy in the near future.
Hand sanitizers are going to get expensive...
The Indian Government is seeking an additional 6% (12% to 18%) GST on hand sanitizers as they claim the product is wrongly classified as medications, which holds a lower tax rate. As a result of this decision, almost 62 companies can be held liable for major tax evasions. The Association of Indian Medical Device Industry, however, questioned the government's decision to impose a greater tax burden on alcohol-based hand sanitizers and disinfectants claiming that hand sanitizers are classified as a drug as manufacturers require a drug license. In addition, they also claim that hand sanitizers have pharmaceutically active ingredients that hold therapeutic and prophylactic value. Lastly, they pointed out the government's hypocrisy as the Industry Minister classified hand sanitizers to fall under Tariff 3004 (12% bracket) in early June. Moral of the story: you better get your favourite flavored hand sanitizer quickly before it becomes super expensive! |
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Look up, the sky is getting busy again!
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India - UAE
The Indian aviation authority has given the green light for flights traveling to and from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between the 12th of July to the 26th of July. However, only Indian residents will be able to fly from UAE to India, as the country continues to remain closed to foreign nationals. Similarly, only travelers approved by the UAE civil aviation authority will be allowed to fly to the UAE.
In addition, India's Vande Bharat Mission (VBM), which has been running since early April to bring back Indian citizens stuck in foreign countries has proven effective, however, a number of international airlines are seeking a partnership with the Indian Government to open special flights to and from India. In a week's time, an agreement may be reached between India and the USA, Germany, and France to allow the operation of flights for passengers eligible to fly under the Indian Home Ministers' rules. Currently, Air France, United, and Lufthansa have been operating repatriation flights out of India for passengers eligible to travel.
Zoom out: Since the country went into full lockdown on March 22 one of the major industries affected was aviation. The lack of operating flights has proven difficult for a number of airlines as they are struggling to cover their high costs. The easing of lockdown measures and the opening of flight paths will prove beneficial for the industry, however, the road to pre-COVID air travel will take a lot of time to achieve. There's light at the end of the tunnel! |
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This section consists of a few personal tips/tricks you can use to stay productive during the lockdown. Since this is our first week, I have decided to give a few words of my own encouragement to my readers. I am sure staying at home has made you feel like every day's the weekend or a holiday, and laziness has crept in. Fear not! Because here are some tips I have personally used to break any lazy habits during the quarantine.
- Set goals - I agree, this is probably what everyone says but honestly it is really useful and allows you to focus on what you want to achieve and work towards it. For example, I have set myself a goal to run 5km in under 25 mins by next month.
- Early to bed, early to rise - Shoutout to my dad for this one. Maintaining a regular sleep schedule will give you energy for the day, and help you stay productive.
- Create a daily to-do list - This takes 2 mins every morning and it is worth it! Setting daily tasks will get work completed efficiently and in an organized way.
- The 2-minute rule - If a task takes 2 minutes, e.g. putting your clothes in the washing machine, or clearing your desk - DO IT! It only takes 2 minutes.
- Stay consistent (10-day rule) - I like to live by the motto that if you do the same thing for 10 days in a row, it becomes a habit. Stay persistent, the first week is always the hardest but once it becomes a habit you will be flying to success.
Think Big, Work Smart.
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1. Flipkart is looking to buy a 260 crore stake in clothing company Arvind Fashions.
2. Flycatcher Technologies, an Indian start-up, caught the world's attention as it became a leading company in waste management. The Goa-based firm uses biodigesters to decompose wet waste without leaving any residue behind.
3. Tata Motors reported a 64% decline in global wholesales.
4. Instagram launched a short video making platform called Reels replacing the banned Tik Tok. Instagram also reported 27 lakh downloads since the Indian Government's decision to ban 59 Chinese-made apps.
5. The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) called for the government to invest more money into making online education more accessible to underprivileged students who cannot afford the hardware required. |
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Woohoo Quiz time! Probaly the best part of the newsletter. Well, it is the most exciting section to make for the team at Subah Kee Chai.
Get thinking, this is a tough one!
Think of an 8 letter word, every time you remove a letter it makes a new word until you have only 1 letter left. What is the 8 letter word?
E.g. (4 letters)
Hand
And
An
A
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I hope you enjoyed reading your weekly Subah Kee Chai newsletter.
Before you go, I wanted to introduce you to the team here at Subah Kee Chai without which none of this would be possible.
- Batul Bahrainwala: Our lovely graphic designer behind all the cool designs and styles. One of the most hardworking members on the team.
- Rhea Zaveri: Our logo creator and one of the best graphic designers. Get her cake, and she'll get your job done.
Please do share our newsletter with your friends and family so they can enjoy reading the news while sipping on their Subah Kee Chai.
Lastly, it will be amazing to hear back from you with any feedback to help us improve the newsletter in the best possible way.
As always links to our social media accounts and website are below.
See you next week!
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Quiz Answer: the word is "starting" (starting, staring, string, sting, sing, sin, in, i)
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Written by: Adnan Bahrainwala (Founder of Subah Kee Chai)
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