Tuesday, 4th August ’20
Good morning, welcome to a fresh new day. We hope that the force be with you as you seize the day. Markets seem to show weak signs and there might be an impending recession looming over India and globally in the months to come. Some European countries have started showing signs of another wave of coronavirus cases. In India, the cases of COVID-19 continue to rise having crossed the 18-lakh mark overall. We urge you again to stay put and stay safe.
We leave you with a few words from Barack Obama, the former US President, to start off your day.
Keep exploring, Keep dreaming. Keep asking why. Don’t settle for what you already know. Never stop believing in the power of your ideas, your imagination, your hard work to change the world.
MARKETS
- Markets: Nifty50 fell again on Monday 6th day in a row and has broken below its crucial support level at 11000. Market sentiments continue to remain weak due to the increase in coronavirus cases, and weak macro indicators. There is a risk of rising NPAs and the possibility of extension of the moratorium period beyond 31st August has also dented the sentiments. Intraday is witnessing aggressive selling amidst these cues. Globally markets are looking forward to additional stimulus package in the US, and hope the rising US-China tensions de-escalate.
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
- Chinese artificial intelligence company Xiao-i has filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc, alleging it has infringed on its patents and is calling for $1.43 billion in damages. Xiao-i argued that Apple’s voice-recognition technology Siri infringes on a patent that is applied for in 2004 and was granted in 2009. This was ruled in Xiao-i’s favor by the Chinese supreme court in 2012.
- Adobe aims to provide a technical solution to image-based misinformation through CAI, or Content Authenticity Initiative, which embeds data into images and other media, from its inception point in Adobe’s own industry-standard image editing software. It also enables content creators to keep their names attached to the work they make.
- Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is aiming to capture a part of the market ceded to Xiaomi and Oppo, on the back of the anti-China sentiment, with a new range of budget devices (3 under Rs 10000). Owing to their largest plant in Delhi, Samsung’s diverse and inhouse supply chain helped it avoid product delays suffered by rivals in the pandemic.
WHAT ELSE IS COOKING
- Amazon launches new warehouse ahead of ‘Prime Day’ sale: With just days to go before it’s Prime Day’ sale, Amazon India has announced the expansion of its warehouse network with the launch of a new specialized fulfillment center (FC) for large appliances and furniture in Ludhiana, Punjab. The new warehouse has a storage capacity of nearly 3 lakh cubic feet and would enable faster delivery of products to customers with a wider product selection this Prime Day on August 6-7, 2020.
- Oxford COVID-19 vaccine to start the advanced trial in India soon: India’s apex drug regulatory body has granted approval to Serum Institute of India (SII) to conduct phase II and III human trials for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford. With participation from around 1,600 people, the clinical trials will be conducted by 17 institutions selected by SII.
- Now add music to your posts within Snapchat: Snap Inc has secured the rights to music from several major music companies, including Warner Music Group, Universal Music Publishing Group, and Merlin. Customers can add music to their posts – a way for young people to share songs with friends and a new promotional tool for the music industry. Snap will roll out a test of the product in New Zealand and Australia starting Monday and plans to release it more widely later this year.
IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS
BEIDOU – China’s version of GPS
Why is it in the news?
China’s President Xi Jinping officially commissioned the navigation system BeiDou on 31st July at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
What is BeiDou?
China’s navigation system uses a network of satellites and can provide positional accuracies of under ten meters (GPS provides positioning accuracies of under 2.2 meters). China initiated BeiDou in 1994 with aims to integrate its application in different sectors, including fishery, agriculture, special care, mass-market applications, forestry, and public security.
What is its significance?
BeiDou offers services including accurate positioning, navigation, and timing as well as short message communication. By completing BeiDou, China now has its own navigation system, which will compete with systems developed by other countries. Significantly, as ties between US and China deteriorate, it becomes more important for China to have its own navigation system that the US does not have control over.
MANAGERS’ CORNER – Consulting Drive
Consulting drive- 3Cs model of brand development
The 3C model is a widely used model for brand development and a popular web-marketing tool. The 3Cs are the 3 primary points of focus for any organization- The Customers, The Competitors, and the Corporation.
The First C- Customer Analysis
Doing in-depth customer analysis is the best way to figure out how to reach out to the target market. Data such as disposable incomes, likes, dislikes, inclinations, and trends of the customers will help you better reach out and define your product.
The Second C- Competitor Analysis
With the rise of web 3.0, it is easy to compare yourself with the competitors. Comparison websites are popular in every industry to investigate the products and services of the competitors. This understanding will help you comprehend what the rivals are doing to increase the customer experience and hence giving some valuable insights.
The Third C- Company
Understanding your company with different analysis tools such as SWOT, Ansoff, and BCG to appreciate what exactly we are doing and what organizational and process changes can help our Corporate further succeed.
Another popular 3C model that is centered around sustainability has Capability, Consistency, and Cultivation as its tenets. Try using the 3C model for your product/brand and keep ahead in the markets.
THE MILLIONAIRE MINDSET
Person of the Day: Sir Richard Branson
Finding out that a guy with dyslexia dropped out of high school to start a student magazine at 16, which sold about $8000 of advertisements in the 60s blew my mind. I bought his biography immediately after and blazed through the pages. I found Steve jobs impressive and Elon Musk otherworldly in terms of the ideas they’d managed to bring to fruition. But my foray into business started with Sir Richard. His ideas about how to run a business are exceptional not just professionally but as a yardstick for how one wants to grow as an individual as well.
- Keeping things simple. He’s vehemently against the use of jargon with even complicated businesses like finance and space tourism and prefers talking about them as you would in a casual conversation.
- Give it a try. Screw it let’s do it says it best. There’s no harm in trying and he believes you could generally start a business in something from your knowledge domain without much capital.
- A good leader takes time to listen, motivate, and praise people. He urges leaders to always remember what a company is and it is nothing but a group of people.
- An entrepreneur delegates. A good entrepreneur conceives ideas, starts ideas and builds them but then hands it over to smarter managers who can scale them.
Written by Kumar Sourav Mohanty, Akansh Bhatt, and Shashank Dobhal
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