Aditya Birla Group celebrates 50 years in Thailand

Aditya Birla Group, a diversified conglomerate, celebrated its 50 years of operations in Thailand on Sunday.

The event was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with various other dignitaries from Thai and Indian Government. In Thailand, Aditya Vikram Birla had made a foray by setting up a spinning unit.

In Southeast Asian country, Aditya Birla Group has propelled to become one of the largest diversified enterprises with its nine plants spanning diverse sectors such as textiles, carbon black and chemicals.

Addressing a gathering here, Mr. Narendra Modi stated "We are here in Thailand with whom India has a strong cultural linkage. And, we are marking 50 years of a leading Indian industrial business in Thailand. This reaffirms my belief that commerce and culture have inherent powers to unite".

In the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Aditya Birla Group Chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla said, it was a matter of great pride to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Aditya Birla Group (ABG) in Thailand. He further added, "We are grateful to the Kingdom for their unflinching support over the years. The last 50 years have continually reinforced the richness of Thai talent and the support of the government for business, and our commitment to Thailand is demonstrated by the US$ 2 billion dollars of investment we have made over the years".

As per Birla, the success of Aditya Birla Group in Thailand has been predicated on the commitment and dedication of close to 4,000 employees and added, "As a group, we continue to remain deeply invested in Thailand’s growth and development".

The presence of Aditya Birla Group is in 36 countries and has more than 1.2 lakh employees from 42 nationalities. More than 50 per cent of the ABG's global revenue comes from the overseas operations.

Siemens signs MoUs with NTPC, TERI on decarbonisation, energy transition

In order to identify, evaluate and set up reference use cases of hydrogen sector-coupling for various upstream and downstream application, Siemens Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NTPC Limited.

The alliance is targeted at developing innovative technologies, solutions and techniques to reduce the dependence on hydrocarbons in India.

For the collaboration on technologies to support the energy transition in India including sector-coupling, Siemens has also signed a separate MoU with TERI. The aim behind signing the MoU with TERI is to realise the research and technology development projects to enable the energy transitions across electricity, transport and industrial sectors.

Mr. Sunil Mathur, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Limited stated that, "One of the most important challenges today is the decarbonisation of the global ecosystem. We take great pride in collaborating with NTPC and TERI as we believe technology will be a key contributor towards creating a carbon neutral society in India. This is also a huge step towards the sustainable development of existing and future power systems enabling efficiency, flexibility and sustainability".

Assets under management of MFIs to grow 40-45 per cent in FY20: Report

Irrespective of the challenges faced by the NBFC sector, the Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), which offer financial services to the low-income population, is expected to record healthy growth for the second year in a row in FY20.

According to the Brickwork Ratings, the MFI segment will witness a growth, as it is expected that the assets under management (AUM) will grow in the range of 40-45 per cent in the current fiscal.

Major drivers for the growth in this fiscal year include availability of credit, expectations of reduced interest rates and a disciplined collection and recovery model. Also, the RBI has recently proposed to increase the household income limit for eligible borrowers and has raised the permissible indebtedness of borrowers, which augurs well for the growth momentum.

The AUM of the microfinance industry has seen a growth of 47 per cent y-o-y in FY19 aided by an increase in the client base (up 34 per cent to 3.17 crore), coupled with disbursement of higher ticket size loans (up 13 per cent). In contrast, other NBFCs have struggled with liquidity since September 2018.

The presence of MFIs has been increased by expansion of their client base in under-penetrated states such as Rajasthan, Assam, Jharkhand and Gujarat along with expansion in new districts in states where they were already present.

Eastern India has witnessed growth at a much faster rate as compared to the overall growth rate (47 per cent) as the AUM in Bihar (77 per cent), Odisha (40 per cent), West Bengal (83 per cent), Jharkhand (53 per cent) and Assam (167 per cent) grew rapidly. These five states contributed almost 40 per cent to the total AUM, the report said.

The demand for credit in rural areas has seen an increase and accounts for around 75 per cent of the total AUM. The average loan amount disbursed per account has increased to Rs 25,543 (US$ 365) in FY19, as compared to Rs 15,419 (US$ 220) in FY16. This increase in ticket size of loans is also a driving factor for growth of AUMs.

Mature markets that have historically seen growth in client additions such as Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal, are expected to witness a higher ticket size loans. Thus, the growth in near future is likely to be driven by client additions in new under-penetrated geographies, and higher ticket size loans in states with a big presence.

In FY19, MFIs raised an important proportion of their liabilities through securitisation in order to keep their liquidity position in-check.

Although, there was a slowdown in growth from 35 per cent in FY16 to 20 per cent in FY17 mainly due to demonetisation, the growth in FY18 rebounded. Since then, the growth momentum has continued in FY19 and is expected to sustain in FY20 as well.

The small ticket size loans that are mainly given to the poor in rural, semi-urban and urban areas are known as microfinance loans. The borrowers eligible for the loans disbursed by an MFI are those whose rural household annual income does not exceed Rs 1,00,000 (US$ 1430) (proposed to be increased to Rs 1,25,000(US$ 1788)), or those whose urban and semi-urban household income does not exceed Rs 1,60,000 (US$ 2290) (proposed to be increased to Rs 2,00,000 (US$ 2862)). These are unsecured loans i.e. given without any collateral.

First ever movement of container cargo on Brahmaputra (National Waterway -2)

In line with Government's focus on improving connectivity to the North Eastern Region (NER), a landmark container cargo consignment will sail on inland waterways from Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) to the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) terminal at Pandu in Guwahati on 4 November 2019.

Shri Gopal Krishna, Secretary (Shipping) will flag off the inland vessel MV Maheshwari carrying 53 TEUs (containers) of petrochemicals, edible oil and beverage etc. The 12-15 days voyage will be an integrated IWT movement via National Waterway-1 (river Ganga), NW-97 (Sunderbans), Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route and NW-2 (river Brahmaputra). This is the first ever containerised cargo movement on this Inland Water Transport (IWT) route. The 1425 km long movement is expected to establish the technical and commercial viability of IWT mode using these multiple waterways even as a series of pilot movements are planned on the stretch. The latest IWT movement is aimed at providing a fillip to North East Region's industrial development by opening an alternate route for transportation of raw material and finished goods.

Taking ahead the Government's vision of promoting IWT, the first consignment of containerized cargo on National Waterway-1 (Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system) was received by the Prime Minister on 12 November 2018 when he dedicated to the nation, the Multi Modal Terminal at Varanasi. IWT on NW-1 has witnessed healthy growth with the augmentation of navigation capacity of Ganga under Jal Marg Vikas Project. The traffic on NW-1 has grown from 5.48 million tonne in 2017-18 to 6.79 million tonne in 2018-19. Out of the total traffic of 6.79 million tonne on NW-1, approximately 3.15 million tonne is the EXIM trade between India and Bangladesh using the Indo Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) routes.

The Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) between India and Bangladesh allows mutually beneficial arrangements for the use of their waterways for movement of goods between the two countries by vessels of both countries. The IBP route extends from Kolkata (India) on NW-1 to Silghat (Assam) on NW-2 (River Brahmaputra) and Karimganj (Assam) on NW-16 (River Barak).Two stretches of Bangladesh inland waterways viz. Sirajganj-Daikhawa & Ashuganj-Zakiganj on the IBP route are being developed at a total cost of Rs 305.84 Cr. on 80:20 cost sharing basis (80 per cent being borne by India & 20% by Bangladesh). The development of these two stretches is expected to provide seamless navigation to and from North East India through waterways via the IBP route. The contracts for dredging on the two stretches have been awarded for achieving and maintaining requisite depth.

In addition to the above, India and Bangladesh have taken major steps to enhance utilization of waterways in the recent past. These include agreement on declaration of additional Ports of Call under PIWT&T at Kolaghat, Dhulian, Maia, Sonamura in India, and Chilmari, Rajshahi, Sultanganj, Daukhandi in Bangladesh. Both countries have also agreed on the following : -

i. Badarpur as an extended port of call of Karimganj (Assam, India) and Ghorasal of Ashuganj in Bangladesh.

ii. Tribeni as an extended port of call of Kolkata, India and Muktarpur of Pangaon in Bangladesh.

iii. Protocol route no.5 & 6 i.e. Rajshahi-Godagari-Dhulian to be extended upto Aricha (Bangladesh).

iv. Inclusion of Daudkhandi-Sonamura stretch on Gumti river as new route no. 9 & 10.

An SOP to facilitate the movement of goods to and from India through Chattogram and Mongla Ports in Bangladesh has been signed by the two countries on 5th October 2019. The proximity of these two ports will reduce logistics cost and improve trade competitiveness of North East states.

AYUSH Minister Inaugurates National Research Institute of Unani Medicine for Skin Disorders

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH Shri Shripad Yesso Naik inaugurated today National Research Institute of Unani Medicine for Skin Disorders (NRIUMSD) upgraded from Central Research Institute of Unani Medicine (CRIUM) at AG Colony Road, Erragadda, Hyderabad. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri G. Kishan Reddy was also present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Naik lauded success of the CRIUM in the treatment of vitiligo and other chronic and stubborn diseases and said that it's perhaps the only medical institution in the world which has treated more than 1.5 lakh patients of Vitiligo alone.

In his address, Shri G. Kishan Reddy called the researchers to find safe and viable solutions to prevalent health challenges, such as vector borne diseases, non- communicable diseases, cancer and tuberculosis.

Addressing the audience, Additional Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH Shri Pramod Kumar Pathak highlighted current health challenges and urged all to exploit the potential of Unani Medicine in addressing them through its cost-effective remedies.

Earlier in his welcome address, Prof. Asim Ali Khan, Director General, Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) said that the NRUMSD has been upgraded from the Central Research Institute of Unani Medicine (CRIUM) to a premier institute under the CCRUM.

Indian Oil to open retail outlets in Saudi Arabia in JV with Al Jeri

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has entered into an equal joint venture with the Riyadh-based Al Jeri Group in order to expand its retail presence in West Asia. The first retail outlet is expected to be set within six months in Saudi Arabia.

At least 200 retail outlets are planned to be initially set by both companies. This comes at a time when the Saudi's national oil company Saudi Aramco is planning to enter into the Indian downstream market through a tie-up with Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries.

The agreement was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Saudi Arabia, between IOC's West Asian unit and the Al Jeri group, which is a local company having specialisation in transport and delivery of bulk petroleum products as well as other bulk transports.

Mr. Gurmeet Singh, IOC's director (marketing) said, "This will be a 50:50 joint venture as local regulations require a partner from Saudi Arabia for retail entry. We will also sell our lubricants in that country; we currently do that through an agent." He added that the within next six months the first outlet should be set as for now the companies are waiting for some local clearances. "We have not decided on the number of outlets that we are going to come up with," Singh further added.

Al Jeri is the biggest transporter of Aramco products in the region and at present carry more than 28 per cent of the company's products. The cross-border service is also provided by the company at all major Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) border crossings. Mr. Singh added, "There is enough local demand in both fuel and lubricant space in Saudi".

Currently, IOC has marketing subsidiaries in countries such as Sri Lanka, Nepal and Mauritius and was also looking to enter into fuel marketing and retail business in Myanmar. Myanmar Petroleum Products Enterprise (MPPE) earlier invited private companies to form a joint venture for import, storage, distribution and sale of all petroleum products and thus IOC planned its entry in the country. IOC is also in the process of laying a pipeline between Raxaul in Bihar and Amlekhgunj in Nepal for an annual capacity of 1.3 million tonnes.

Indian market has attracted many other companies including Russian giant Rosneft, French major Total, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) apart from Aramco. Many foreign players, including Saudi Aramco, BP, ExxonMobil and Total, are also likely to show their interest in the proposed strategic sale of government-controlled Bharat Petroleum Corporation.

PepsiCo India wins US award for saving more than 17 billion litres of water

US Secretary of State, Mr. Mike Pompeo presented the prestigious Award for Corporate Excellence to PepsiCo India in order to acknowledge the efforts of the company, as it saved more than 17 billion of litres of water through community water programs that has a positive impact on thousands of community members.

The ACE was Established in 1999 and recognizes those US companies that act as a responsible member of their communities where they do business and maintain those high standards.

"Today we honour one of PepsiCo's regional arms, PepsiCo India. It is India's largest purchaser of potatoes. And it uses this to power good, sourcing sustainably from 24,000 small Indian farmers. It also has a program aimed at replenishing water in stressed areas, through which it has restored nearly five billion litres of water", said Mr. Pompeo.

Chambers Federation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Procter and Gamble Asia Pacific in Singapore and Agilis Partners in Uganda were the other recipients of the award.

Mr. Pompeo added, "Our four winners today demonstrate the power of free enterprise. They demonstrate to our foreign partners that working with our businesses is a path to prosperity and stability."

According to him, these companies highlights the America's free market values by producing good jobs in the United States and around the world, investing sustainably, operating transparently, and providing the highest quality products and services in the world.

PepsiCo India won globally for its sustainable operations in the multinational enterprise category for its sustainable farming initiative in India.

The company has worked with community water programs in order to save more than 17 billion litres of water and also replenishing over 5 billion litres of water, affecting positively around 60,000 community members.

MoU Signed between AIIA and Frankfurter Innovationszentrum Biotechnologie GmbH, Germany

An MOU has been signed between All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) under Ministry of AYUSH and Frankfurter Innovationszentrum Biotechnologie GmbH (FiZ) here today. The MoU signed by Prof. Tanuja Nesari Director AIIA and Dr Christian Garbe, Managing Director of Frankfurter Innovationszentrum Biotechnologie GmbH (FiZ), was agreed at FiZ on the occasion of the event "German/Indian knowledge exchange regarding current developments in the health care sector" by Dr. Garbe with Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, during September of this year.

One important goal of the collaboration is to research in the field of genomics and develop evidence-based guidelines supported with latest technologies like Artificial Intelligence and machine learning so as to integrate Ayurvedic principles and practises into modern medicine for the wider reach to the masses. Further, exchange of knowledge and experiences will be another component in the MoU.

Speaking after the singing of the MOU, Dr. Vaidya, Secretary, AYUSH said that the systems appear to be quite different at first glance. On deeper observation, it appears that both the sciences can support each other. Complementing the traditional Ayurveda Medicine with conventional concepts of Biotechnology is expected in generating evidences that further help in contributing to the global healthcare, he added.

On this occasion, Dr. Garbe said that for years there have been diverse contacts with India in order to foster both, share experience and know-how in our network and render technological knowledge economically usable as well. He explained that empirical medicine and precision medicine will become productive partners.

Director, All India Institute of Ayurveda Prof. Tanuja Nesari said that the Ayurveda is the time-tested science focussed upon providing healthy life through wholeness of body, mind, and soul considering different aspects including environmental factors.

Union Territory of Ladakh gets New Regional Centre of GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development

Realizing the importance of the Indian Himalayan region and recognizing the need to study its ecology, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar approved the proposal of setting-up of a New Regional Centre of the GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development at Ladakh.

As the setting up of the Centre is being envisaged concurrently with Ladakh being designated as a separate Union Territory (UT), the Institute is expected to have an institutional linkage with the Ladakh Administration right from its inception. This association would be mutually beneficial (i) to the Institute through the facilitation of UT government for setting-up of the centre (i.e., appropriate space for work initiation, land for own campus and technology park/demonstrations) and (ii) aligning the centre's activities with priorities and needs of newly created UT.

The setting-up of this centre would ensure Institute's Research & Development outreach in entire Trans Himalayan zone of Indian Himalaya by way of targeting following objectives:

• To promote alternative and innovative livelihoods for climate change vulnerable cold-desert communities.
• To facilitate conservation of critical/important cold desert habitats and biodiversity.
• To strengthen and establish approaches for addressing issues of water scarcity and
• To foster climate smart communities in the trans-Himalayan landscape

The GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development with its Headquarters at Kosi-Katarmal (Uttarakhand) and Regional Centres (RCs) as Himachal RC at Mohal-Kullu, Himachal Pradesh. (to cover J&K and H.P.), Garhwal RC at Srinagar (to cover Uttarakhand), Sikkim RC at Pangthang, Gangtok (to cover Sikkim and W.B. hills), Northeast RC at Itanagar (to cover remaining NE States) caters to environment management, conservation of natural resources and policies for sustainable development of communities in the Indian Himalayan Region.

It is noteworthy to mention that the Trans Himalayan landscape has most of its area lying above 3,000 Mean sea level (msl) and is characterized by extreme cold climate, minimal rain (9-10cm annual, more than 300 sunny days) and with very sparse vegetation. This landscape, most often, is also termed as clod desert. The region is endowed with rich diversity of culture, unique biodiversity elements and significantly large wetlands/water bodies (lakes). The Centre will help in better understanding of its landscape components and developing strategies and implementation plans for addressing issues of environmental conservation, people's livelihoods and sustainable development under changing scenario.

India to invest Rs 1 trillion in setting up 100 new airports by 2024

As per the people with knowledge of the matter, to revive economic growth in Asia's 3rd largest economy, India is planning to start 100 additional airports by 2024. Along with this the proposal includes the 1,000 new routes which is going to be connected with smaller towns and villages, the sources said last week. The plan was discussed in a meeting to review infrastructure needed by 2025, as stated by sources, as the discussion is private, asking not to be identified. Steps to start a plane-lease financing business in the country was also discussed, they said.

With economic activity at a six-year low and probability of further slowdown looming, to revive the growth and achieve a target of making India a US$ 5 trillion economy by 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to double down on infrastructure projects. To compete with the likes of Vietnam and Indonesia for investments amid global trade tensions, Government of India cut the corporate tax rates last month, putting India on par with some of the lowest in Asia.

India's plan to expedite development of airport still trails that of China's, which has a goal of having 450 commercial airports by 2035, which is almost double the number at the end of 2018.

According to the people, proposal by India's think tank also includes enhancing the number of locally trained pilots to 600 a year and double the domestic aircraft fleet to 1,200 during the period. To build airports in next 5 years, Government of India has committed the investments of Rs 1 trillion.

Three years back from now, only 75 of India's 450 runway were functional, as airlines avoided flying to smaller, World War-era airstrips in smaller towns. But with the support of Modi's subsidy program, which partly funds the airlines who losses while capping fares on remote routes and at the starting of 2019, has also helped by adding 38 airports to nation's aviation map, although, the contracts were given to airlines to start flights to a further 63 airports with no or limited connectivity.

While the lure of India, with an emerging middle class flying for the first time, has attracted companies such as Singapore Airlines Ltd. and AirAsia Bhd. to set up local units, provincial taxes in the nation make jet fuel one of the most expensive in the world. The government is aware of the high taxation burden and higher jet fuel prices and will rationalize the tax regime as soon as next year, the people said.

They also said, India will also encourage the use of drones, for which the policy has been announced by government this year allowing unmanned vehicles to fly beyond the line of sight, and sees the number of legal drones reaching a million by 2024. By 2021, country will prepare the drone corridors and by 2023, will allow delivery of goods by drones.