Major Whatsapp, Insta Outage; Services Resume Soon

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New Delhi: Social media platforms WhatsApp and Instagram suffered a major outage on Friday night, but the services resumed after some time. Many WhatsApp users reported inability to send and receive messages, while Instagram too was down during the period. Independent tracking portal Downdetector showed a spike in the outage reported by users of both WhatsApp and Instagram.

The Facebook-owned platforms later said the “technical issue” had been resolved. “A technical issue caused people to have trouble accessing some Facebook services. We resolved this issue for everyone, and we apologize for any inconvenience,” a Facebook spokesperson said.

“Thanks for your patience, that was a long 45 minutes but we are back!” WhatsApp posted on Twitter. “Some people were having issues with their Instagram accounts earlier, but we’re back now. The issue’s been fixed and we’re sorry for the trouble,” Instagram tweeted, along with a GIF. PTI MBI HMB 03200051 NNNN.

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‘Bond vigilantes could trigger outflows’

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Article in RBI bulletin flags risks to recovery including from rising COVID-19 infections, price pressures

Barely a day after the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose to its highest level in more than a year after investors interpreted the Federal Reserve’s dovish policy stance as being not adequately mindful of inflation risks, an article in the latest monthly edition of the Reserve Bank of India’s Bulletin cautioned that bond vigilantes could undermine a global economic recovery, ‘unsettle financial markets and trigger capital outflows from emerging markets’.

“The Reserve Bank is striving to ensure an orderly evolution of the yield curve, but it takes two to tango and forestall a tandav,” RBI officials led by Deputy Governor Michael D. Patra wrote in the ‘State of the Economy’ in the March bulletin.

Noting that with countries rushing to inoculate their populations, the global economy should regain lost momentum in the second quarter, the RBI’s researchers asserted that bond vigilantes were riding again, “ostensibly trying to enforce law and order on lawless governments and central banks but this time around, they could undermine the economic recovery and unsettle buoyant financial markets”.

“As growth forecasts for 2021 are ratcheted up, they see in them the spectre of long dormant inflation, the archenemy of bonds as it erodes the real value of the fixed income they provide,” they wrote.

“Fears over U.S. interest rates have already started spilling over on to emerging market economies (EMEs). Investors have started pulling out money from EME stocks and bonds in an abrupt ending of a streak of inflows that had remained uninterrupted since October 2020,” it added.

The RBI’s article cited the Institute of International Finance (IIF) as having pointed out that foreign investment had turned negative in emerging market equities and debt from the latter part of February, ‘bringing back fears of the 2013 taper tantrum’.

“While the external balances and debt profiles of many emerging economies are in better shape today than in 2013, they are not immune,” the article’s authors warned.

India’s S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty equity indices both declined more than 1% on Thursday, extending their slide to five straight sessions amid concerns about fund outflows and the resurgence in COVID-19 infections across the country. The benchmarks, however, recouped some losses on Friday after they ended the session with gains.

Referring to the rising number of cases, the RBI officials cautioned: “India is poised on the cusp of two tipping points. First, there are ominous signs that infections are rising. A second wave? Time will tell. On the other hand, vaccinations have moved beyond health workers to senior citizens, but at 3.3 crore as on March 16, the entire process needs to be speeded up.”

The article’s authors also flagged building price pressures as the other tipping point. “Second, inflation has witnessed upside pressures. In fact, excluding vegetables, headline CPI inflation has moved in a tight range of 5.8 to 6.4% from June, testing the upper tolerance band of the inflation target. Global oil markets are experiencing hardening of prices and production restraints. The ratcheting up of input prices to multi-year highs pose a dilemma — if they are passed on to consumers as pricing power returns to firms as aggregate demand picks up, there will be even higher inflation; if they are held back, profitability will be eroded as will gross valued added in the economy. India is in a strange place — rising prices amidst plenty.”

Notwithstanding this, they said there was a restless urgency in the air in India to resume high growth, “with signs that the capex cycle is uncoiling and turning, and earnings results of corporates having beaten market expectations.”

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Advanced nations failed world on climate change: Nirmala Sitharaman

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday admonished advanced countries for failing to keep their financing commitments to help emerging economies cope with climate change, invoking the recent Uttarakhand disaster as an example of the vulnerabilities that need to be addressed.

The government, she said, was committed to building infrastructure that would not only revive the economy but also prove resilient to the risks of climate change. “We are looking at innovative systems that can certify [that] the resilience of the infrastructure is established. A global standard for certification for resilient infra is also something we are thinking of,” Ms. Sitharaman said at the International Conference on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.

Arguing that advanced economies had failed to fulfil their ‘quantitative commitment’ to provide $100 billion a year to help smaller countries, she pointed out that this amount itself was ‘meagre’, to begin with.

“Financing for building resilient infrastructure, during the pandemic and after it, is a critical issue. Emerging economies or, worse, the small islands and countries in Africa, are going to have serious challenges in meeting the commitments of the Paris agreement. I appeal to the advanced economies that their commitment to financing climate change and transferring technologies which are important for achieving climate related goals will have to be ramped up, sped up and scaled up,” she said.

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Specify reasons for rejecting health claims: IRDAI to insurers

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The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has cautioned insurers against not being transparent to policyholders while rejecting health insurance claims.

“Insurer shall ensure that the repudiation of the claim is not based on presumptions and conjectures,” the IRDAI said in a circular to Life, General and Standalone Health Insurance Companies as well as TPAs.

IRDAI said when a claim is denied or repudiated, the insurer should communicate the same, specifically mentioning reasons and also referring to the corresponding policy conditions. Details of the grievance redressal procedures available with the insurer as well as the Insurance Ombudsman along with addresses of the respective offices should also be furnished to the policyholders.

Besides processing of the claims in a “transparent, seamless and efficient manner within prescribed timelines,” the insurance companies should ensure the policyholder is provided with granular details of the payments made, amounts disallowed and the reasons for the amount disallowed. The regulator said it is essential for all insurers to establish procedures to let policyholders get clear and transparent communication at various stages of claim processing.

Systems to enable policyholders track status of cashless requests/claims filed with the insurer/TPA either through website/app or any other authorised electronic means on an ongoing basis have to be provided by the insurers. The status shall cover from the time of receipt of request to the time of disposal of the claim along with the decision thereon, General Manager (Health) D.V.S.Ramesh said in the circular.

Friday’s circular follows the one issued earlier this week, by the regulator, advising health insurers to refrain from modifying existing benefits or add new benefits in existing products that results in increase in the premium. Any addition to and upgradation of existing benefits can be made only as add-on covers or optional covers with a standalone premium rate.

Separately, IRDAI asked insurers to make special arrangements to facilitate eligible policyholders to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as a group or individually either at government or private facilities as per the option of the policyholders. The insurer should assist them by making arrangements through pre-booking slots and send reminders when the second shot of vaccine is due, IRDAI said.

Similar arrangements may be made for all employees of insurance companies as also agents “so that they can be made immune to future COVID-19 infection.”

The regulator did not specify whether the cost of the vaccination would be covered under the policies for those taking the shots at private hospitals. However, on Thursday the regulator had clarified that “in the unlikely event of hospitalisation following adverse reaction to COVID-19 vaccination, hospitalisation is covered under the health insurance policies subject to the specific terms and conditions of the policy.”

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Tata Motors forays into compact ambulance segment

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Tata Motors has forayed into the compact ambulance segment by unveiling Magic Express, a patient-transport ambulance in the economy category. “The compact dimensions of the vehicle enables easy manoeuvrability on Indian roads, resulting in speedy movement of patients requiring emergency care, thereby saving lives,” the company said, adding it was fully compliant with AIS 125 norms.

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‘Scrappage policy will boost auto sector’

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Auto majors have welcomed the new vehicle scrappage policy saying it would encourage people to replace old vehicles while boosting the sector.

The new policy presents a huge business opportunity for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and significantly reduce pollution while bolstering road safety, said Venkatram Mamillapalle, country CEO and MD, Renault India Operations.

Mr. Venkatram said the announcement would bring the Indian automotive industry on par with international standard, besides offering the much-needed reprieve for auto, steel and electronics industries that were in need of resuscitation after the onslaught of the pandemic.

This incentive-led announcement will lead to a reduction in pollution levels in the long run and boost the demand for new and environment-friendly vehicles especially in the personal mobility segment, said Nagesh Basavanhalli, Group CEO & MD, Greaves Cotton.

“Only a joint effort by the government, industry and the customers can result in a scrappage policy that offers true safety, economic and environmental benefits,” said Satyakam Arya, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles MD & CEO.

“The guidelines will prove to be a boon in the long run.We strongly believe this policy will kick-start the revival of the Indian auto sector and the overall economy.”

“Measures to impose a green cess and exempting vehicles running on environment- friendly technology will, in turn, augur well for EVs. We now look forward to State governments linking scrappage incentives with EVs and supporting their use for intra-city requirements in the commercial space,” said Saurav Kumar, Founder and CEO, Euler Motors, an automotive technology OEM.

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Kia India targets to produce up to 2.5 lakh vehicles in 2021

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Kia, which entered in the India market in 2019, has sold more than 2 lakh units in the domestic market till now.

South Korean auto major Kia is aiming to increase production in India to about 2.5 lakh units per annum in 2021, anticipating an increase in sales driven by ‘overwhelming’ domestic as well as growing exports demand, a senior company executive said.

“To meet the increasing demand for Kia cars in both domestic and global markets, we are looking at operating three shifts at our Anantapur plant, which is capable of producing 3 lakh units per year,” Tae-Jin Park, executive director and chief sales and business strategy officer Kia Motors India, said. “We are targeting to produce 2.30 lakh to 2.50 lakh vehicles, including the export target of 20%, in 2021,” he added.

While Mr. Park did not share the current production figures, the company, which entered in the India market in 2019, has sold more than 2 lakh units in the domestic market till now.

He added that while the pandemic had unleashed a new world of challenges by shaping new customer behaviours and trends across businesses globally, the company was seeing an upward trend in demand in the last few months given the increasing preference for personal mobility for safe travel, pent up demand during the festive season, and more customers accessing digital methods as a purchase and enquiry mechanism.

“Introduction of scrappage policy and the new PLI scheme has set a very strong foundation for boosting the overall demand for newer vehicles with focus on manufacturing and exports,” Mr. Park said. “This gives us the confidence that 2021 will be a year of fast recovery for the industry,” he said. He, however, added that recovery was still a work in progress given the overall industry potential.

Asked about the company’s plans for introducing electric vehicles in India, Mr. Park said Kia aimed to establish a full EV line-up of 11 models and reach a 6.6% global EV market share by 2025. The company’s Anantapur manufacturing plant was capable of producing electric vehicles, he said. “We believe the success of EV in India primarily relies on developing infrastructure capabilities; supported by steady and streamlined policies to evaluate its viability,” he added.

On the product roadmap for India, he said currently, the company was focusing on meeting the overwhelming demand for the three existing products — the Seltos, Carnival and Sonet. “The Seltos and the Sonet are experiencing strong demand not only in India but in global markets as well…we are ambitious and constantly evaluate consumer and market trends…Our product strategy relies on what will be relevant to India in the coming years and we will accordingly introduce more products and upgrade our successful products to suit the needs of customers,” he said.

Mr. Park added that the company was witnessing good demand from the Tier III and Tier IV markets and is looking to enhance their reach in smaller towns and cities. “Network expansion remains to be one of our primary strategies for sustaining growth. We are foraying in Tier IV and up-country cities/towns,” he added.

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Markets snap five-session losing streak

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Indian equity markets on Friday snapped a five-session losing streak, gaining 1.3% from the previous close following select buying in HUL, Reliance, ITC and PSU stocks even as concerns remained over high bond yields.

The S&P BSE Sensex gained 642 points to 49,858, or up 1.3%, though the index.

The NSE Nifty 50 index gained 186 points to 14,744, or 1.28% higher

Dr. Joseph Thomas, head of research, Emkay Wealth Management, said all major indices, including banking, IT, pharma and healthcare and technology provided the necessary push to for the indices to surge.

“This is in contrast to the fall seen in the Eastern markets and early [trade in ] Europe. There could be some amount of short covering given the selling seen earlier this week, and also a marked relief with some improvements due to a fall in the oil prices,” he said.

“But the issues surrounding higher U.S. yields will continue to be material to the markets in the coming weeks. The Fed sees growth and the Fed sees inflation, and so, the yields will go higher,” he added.

This may have consequences for equities, though in a limited way, in the coming days, Dr Thomas said.

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Haldia’s ₹600 crore scheme to takeover Nagarjuna gets nod

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Haldia Petrochemicals would take over Nagarjuna Oil Corporation Ltd. (NOCL), as per the ₹600-crore scheme of arrangement approved by the National Company Law Tribunal, Chennai.

As per the scheme, secured lenders would get ₹560 crore, or about 6% of their total admitted claims of ₹9,864.16 crore. Lenders include State Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank, among others.

NCLT had ordered the liquidation of NOC, after none of the resolutions got through. Later, Haldia submitted a resolution plan under section 230 of Companies Act. Section 230 of the is a mechanism to ensure institutional settlement of disputes between creditors and the company. It ensures that the company has a chance to save itself from insolvency or liquidation by entering into a deal with at least a majority of creditors.

Meanwhile, other claimants are unlikely to get any amounts towards their claims, including statutory authorities, barring priority payments payable as per Section 53 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016. The shareholders’ equity of ₹1800 crore also gets wiped out.

According to a source, the banks get to recover ₹560 crore out of the principal amount of ₹2,200 crore, which is about 25%. The interest is high because the account turned NPA long before it was referred to the NCLT.

In September 2019, Haldia Petrochemicals signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu Government to invest almost ₹50,000 crore in Cuddalore district, by converting the NOCL facility into a refinery-cum-petrochemical complex.

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LIC relaxes maturity claims norms

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To mitigate hardships faced by its policyholders during the pandemic, the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has allowed them to deposit their maturity claim documents at their nearest LIC office anywhere in the country.

The insurer has allowed its 113 divisional offices, 2,048 branches, 1,526 satellite offices and 74 customer zones to receive maturity claims documents from policyholders whose maturity payments are due, irrespective of the servicing branch of the policy.

“However, the actual claim payment will be processed by the servicing branch only. The documents will be digitally transferred through LIC’s All India Network,” LIC said in a statement.

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