Monday, 27th July ’20
Good morning, Welcome to this amazing monsoon Monday. We are here to make you smarter and more informed in 10 minutes. We are continuously working towards making these 10 minutes count so that our readers become better professionally in an ever-increasing competitive world.
We start with these 2 lines from Winston Churchill to hit off your week,
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
MARKETS
Markets: Last Friday ended with a rise in the market indices with Sensex closing 3 percent higher while the Nifty50 rose 2.6 percent. There were better than expected Corporate earnings for ICICI bank. COVID-19 cases continue to surge as there are talks of a potential vaccine. As US-China tensions continue, the massive stimulus package by EU soared the market sentiments.
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
- Snoop Dogg backed Proper raises $9.5 Million, aims to help solve what the CDC has identified as a public health crisis, viz. insufficient sleep, with a truly more holistic and personalized solution. It combines the best of natural, safe, evidence-based sleep supplements with expert behavioral coaching which is the need of the hour as millions of people face burnout while working from home without leave.
- More than 50% of Female junior associates never make it to the top at a VC firm, according to a Preqin report on Women in Private Equity. In the US, 52 women became general partners for the first time in venture firms last year. According to an ET survey, the number of women in VC firms has grown by 27-31% in the last 18 months.
An Indian court has summoned Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma in a case in which a former employee alleges that the company used to censor content seen as unfavorable to China and its apps UC Browser and UC News showcased false news to foment social and political turmoil.
WHAT ELSE IS COOKING
Canberra limits migration intake, adversely impacting Indian migrants: With Australia’s migration intake dropping from 232,000 in 2018-19 to 31,000 in 2020-21, due to the pandemic, thousands of Indians planning to emigrate to the country are in trouble. India is one of the top sources of skilled immigrants to Australia. Approximately 90,000 students are studying in Australian universities. The international borders are expected to reopen in January next year, but a two-week quarantine period would remain in place for arrivals to Australia.
Rapid Diagnostic Kits import of three firms canceled: India’s drug regulator has canceled the rapid diagnostic kit import licenses of three firms and suspended that of 16 others saying the USFDA has removed the manufacturers from their list of coronavirus serology test kits with directions that they should not be distributed. The three firms are Cadila Healthcare, MDAAC International, and N W Overseas.
India hikes exposure to US government securities in May: India’s holdings of American government securities increased by nearly USD 13 billion to USD 169.9 billion at the end of May. The country was the 12th largest holder of the American government securities while Japan had the maximum exposure at USD 1.260 trillion at the end of May. At the second spot was China with holdings worth USD 1.083 trillion, followed by the United Kingdom at the third place with an exposure of USD 393.5 billion.
IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS
FINANCIAL STABILITY REPORT, JULY 2020
Why is it in the news?
RBI released the 21st Issue of FSR report on 24th July, 2020 which reflects the collective assessment of the Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) on risks to financial stability, and the resilience of the financial system in the context of contemporaneous issues relating to development and regulation of the financial sector.
What are the essentials of the report?
The report provides different scenarios of impact of COVID-19 pandemic on different indicators as shown in the picture
- GDP growth shows contraction under all scenarios
- Combined Gross Fiscal Deficit-to-GDP ratio is expected to increase by 10% in all scenarios
- Current account balance-to-GDP ratio is expected to fall, indicating higher fall in exports viz-a-viz imports
What are the other key findings?
- Gross Non-performing assets ratio of all Scheduled Commercial Banks may increase from 8.5% from March, 2020 to 12.5% by March, 2021 under baseline scenario
- Declining share of market funding for NBFCs can further create liquidity risks for them as well as for the financial system
- Risks to global economic prospects will be high due to over-leveraged non-financial sector, simmering global geopolitical tensions, and pandemic-induced economic losses
MANAGERS’ CORNER – Marketing Mondays
“Marketing as an Art” concept
We have all studied marketing campaigns like direct, digital, and referral among others. But what if your own products can etch your marketing in history, science and “astronomy”.
This is exactly what happened when in February 2018, Elon musk launched a $100,000 Tesla Roadster onto space on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket. This Roadster has traveled farther than any car in history and has exceeded its 36000 miles warranty 33,600 times.
This was the excellence of Musk’s brand management and the use of new media. What are the marketing lessons from this?
- Falcon quo challenged the status quo of payloads. And what better way to demonstrate than loading one top brand onto another.
- This incorporated Musk’s vision of interplanetary life and extending that vision into space
- Captured imagination of the advertising industry in general and millennials in particular. Perhaps, something that no other car company can afford to experiment.
This was an amalgamation of art and marketing. “Marketing-as-an-Art” need not necessarily be expensive but still can be a masterpiece. This MaaA will drive the next generation of imagination.
For the nerds in us, we have this amazing site where we can track where is the roadster right now.
THE MILLIONAIRE MINDSET
Game-changing Startups: Spacemaker is an AI-based technology company that helps discover ways to maximize the potential of a building site. This startup helps generate a number of building proposals and provides a detailed analysis of each of them. Why are they needed?
- Creating high-quality architecture proposals in cities that are consistently growing higher, denser, and faster.
- Empower the builders and architects to build better designs. This would, in turn, facilitate the consumers with a more ergonomic design.
- Construction is one of the least digitized industries. Spacemaker provides them with the right tools to scale and utilize technology.
TMT bets on Spacemaker to be a big name in the real estate industry once they decide to enter the B2C landscape. Wouldn’t it be great if people in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India could design and choose from a number of house architectures based on their limitations and preferences!
Written by Kumar Sourav Mohanty, Akansh Bhatt, and Shashank Dobhal
Become Smarter in Just 5 minutes
Get a daily mail that makes reading the news enjoyable. Stay informed and entertained for free. (After Sign Up, you’ll receive a welcome mail within 5 minutes. If you don’t get it, check your promotions tab and move it to primary.)
FOLLOW US HERE