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QuickPicks

Myntra changes logo aftercomplaint calls signage offensive

FASHION E-TAILERMyntra is changing its logofollowing a complaint by aMumbai-basedactivistwho alleged that the brand's signagewas offensive towardswomen, reports PTI.

When contacted, Myntra confirmed the development. Thelogo is being changed across Myntra'swebsite, app andpackagingmaterial. The complaint had been lodged lastmonth byAvesta Foundation's Naaz Patel. PAGE 11

Gandhi statue vandalised inUS; India demands action

UNKNOWNMISCREANTS have vandalised,broken and ripped from the base a statue ofMahatmaGandhi in a park in California, evoking astrong response from India,which sought athorough investigation and appropriate action

against those responsible for the “despicable act”, reportsPTI. The 6-ft tall statue ofGandhi, in the Central Park of theCity of Davis in Northern California, appeared to have beensawed off at the ankles and half its facewas severed.

ISTHEREASECRETTOSUCCESSON INSTAGRAM?It depends onwhat youmeanby 'secret' and also 'success'

Page 10

MIND & GAMES FE LINES

Aspace odysseyTheyear2021promises tobean

excitingone for spaceexploration,

withmanymissions Page6

Noexpectations,nodisappointmentACROSSTHEAISLE , PCHIDAMBARAM

OPINION, P2

■SPOTLIGHT, P7

Flyon thewallData privacy is no new concern, with

controversy surrounding some platform

every now and then. How do social

commerce entrepreneurs deal with the

issue?

WHAT'S INSIDE

■FOOTLOOSEP8

Points andmiles traveldealsIt’s a buyers’ market

for airlines, hotels

and credit card

awards

WORDSWORTH

AMISH&BHAVNAROY

‘Dharma is erroneouslytranslated as

religion in India’Page 4

P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E

FINANCIALEXPRESSON SUNDAY

FollowusonTwitter&Facebook.Appavailable onAppStore&Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COMVOL. X, NO. 103

PUNESUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2021, 16 Pages, `10 READ TO LEAD

VENKATASUSMITABISWASMumbai, January 30

EVER SINCE BOLLYWOODheartthrob Ranbir Kapoormentioned in an interviewthathismarriage toAlia Bhattwas delayed because of thepandemic, there has been arenewed interest in seeing the

couple together on screen. InthelatestFlipkartFashionad(abrand they endorse together),theduo showcases the e-com-merceportal’swidecollection.This isnot the first timethe

Bollywood actors haveappeared together in an adcampaign. In 2019, FlipkartFashionandLayssignedKapoorandBhatttogetherforadvertis-ing campaigns when the twowere working on their firstmovietogether,Brahmastra.The duo are not the only

off-screen celebrity couple tobe roped inbybrandsasapair.Ranveer Singh and DeepikaPadukoneendorsed JioduringIPL2020 and Lloyd air-condi-tioners in 2019. Manyavarmost famously roped inAnushka Sharma to promote

its women’s line of clothingalongwithcricketerViratKohli(who was already associatedwith the brand and endorsingthemenswear line) just ahead

of the couple’swedding.Afterthetwogotmarried,Manyavarreturned to the couple’s ‘lovesaga’oneyear later.TheManyavaradssetanew

benchmark in brand endorse-ments. Using well-knownactorswho share a chemistryto portray themselves addstexture to an otherwise plainscript. “That two celebritieshappentoberelatedisthecon-textthatthecustomerisawareabout.Thisallowsthebrandtocreatethekindof imageryandvibe that each of their fanswould love, but one that boththeir fanswould remember,insomeways,” says Sunil P, asso-ciate vice president – clientservices,DentsuWebchutney.Creating a story that can

bringoutthedynamicbetweena pair makes an ad stand outand not get lost among theclutterofbrandendorsements.

ContinuedonPage16

FE BUREAUNewDelhi, January 30

PRIME MINISTER NARENDRAModi on Saturday assured theOpposition parties of his gov-ernment'sresolvetofindares-olution to the over two-months-old farmers' protest.Speakingatthecustomaryall-party meeting ahead of theBudgetsessionthatstartsfromMonday, Modi said the Cen-tre’s offer to put on hold thethreecontentiousagriculture-marketing laws for 12-18monthsstillholds.Thegovern-mentiswillingtoholdanotherroundof talkswith the agitat-ing farmerunions,headded.Sharing the details of the

meeting chaired byModi andattended bydefenceministerRajnath Singh,parliamentaryaffairsminister Pralhad Joshisaid,“The PMassured that theCentreisapproachingthefarm-ersissuewithanopenmind.He

said the Centre’s stand is thesame as it was on January 22,thelastmeetingbetweenfarm-ers and theCentre.Modiji reit-eratedwhatTomarjihadsaid—thathe(NarendraSinghTomar)is a phone call away for talks,”JoshiquotedModi.The Opposition had boy-

cotted President’s address toParliament, citing the gov-ernment’s ‘mishandling’ ofthe protest. The governmentwants to the Budget sessionto be smooth, given the needfor important legislativework and the passage of theBudget, which is key toeconomic revival.

Exasperatedovertheobdu-racydisplayedbytheagitatingfarmerunionsdespitethecon-ciliatory offer to put the threefarm laws in abeyance for 12-18months,theCentre on Jan-uary 22 hardened its stanceand conveyed to the unionsthat it can’t yield any more,causing further uncertaintyoverwhen and how the strikewill end. With the farmergroups clinging to the maxi-malist position that nothingless thantheabrogationof thelaws would be acceptable tothem, both sides could noteven decide on the date of thenext roundof talks.

CEASPEAK

COVID-19

GROWTHMOMENTUM

FARMERS’ PROTEST

PRESSTRUSTOF INDIANewDelhi, January 30

CHIEFECONOMICADVISERKVSubramanianonSaturdaysaidthe country would witnessrevivalof'animalspirits'ofpri-vateenterpriseswiththeecon-omystaging a 'V-shaped'11%growth in the next fiscal yearbeginningApril.TheEconomicSurvey 2020-21 presented inParliament on Friday expectsthe growth rate to reboundsharply from an estimatedrecord contraction of 7.7% inthe current financial year onaccount of the impact ofthepandemic."I think next yearwith an

11%growthrate,thatisantic-ipated.Privatesectormoves inwhen they see opportunities,"Subramaniansaid,whenaskedabout the revival of 'animalspirits' in private investment.The expression ‘animal spirit’was coined by celebratedeconomist John MaynardKeynes to refer to investors’confidence in taking action intermsof investment.Subramanian alsomade a

caseforstrongcounter-cyclicalmeasurestoencourageprivateinvestment. Observing thattherearebusinesscyclesinthe

economy and there are peaksand troughs,he saidwhen theeconomy is doing reallywell,privatesectorisalsodoingverywell and it's time for the gov-ernmenttostepbackandcon-solidate its fiscalposition.“But when the economy is

not doingwell, it's in a trough.Theprivate sector,therefore, isnotdoingverywell.Thevoidthatis left on consumption, invest-ment, etc, the governmentmoves in and fills thatvoid,”hetoldPTI inaninterview.

ContinuedonPage16

‘Revival of animalspiritswith 11%growth next fiscal’

Demand forwarehousingto remain strong in 2021

Q3 PERFORMANCE

●Modi says atall-partymeetingthat govt a phonecall away for talks

FE BUREAUMumbai, January 30

ICICI BANK ON Saturdayreported a 19%year-on-year(y-o-y) rise in its net profit at`4,940crore in theDecemberquarter (Q3FY21) on the backofhealthyinterestincomeandimproved asset quality.Sequentially,itsnetprofitrose16%.The operating profit ofthe lenderincreased17%y-o-y and 7%quarter-on-quarter(q-o-q) to `8,820 crore. Theinterestincome(NII)increased16% y-o-y and 6% q-o-q to`9,912 crore. Provisions forthe lenderincreased32%y-o-yto`2,742crore,butdeclined8%sequentially.Sandeep Batra, executive

director (ED), ICICI Bank, saidthe continued pickup in eco-nomic activity and tailwindsfrom the festive season com-binedwith the bank’s digitalinitiatives and extensive fran-chisereflectedinanincreaseindisbursements across retailproducts during Q3- 2021.Credit card spends also havereached pre-Covid levels inDecemberthankstoincreasedspends in categories such ashealth &wellness, electronics

ande-commerce,headded.During Q3FY21, the bank

has changed its provisioningpolicy on non-performingassets (NPA) to make it moreconservative. As part of therevised policy, the bank hasmade contingency provisionof `3,012 crore for borroweraccounts not classified asNPAs as per Supreme Court(SC) direction.

ContinuedonPage16

SII to launch2ndvaccinein JuneGEETANAIRPune, January 30

VACCINEMAKER SERUM Insti-tuteofIndia(SII)willbelaunch-ing its secondCovid-19vaccinein June2021.AdarPoonawalla,CEOandED,SII,saidhehopedtolaunch thevaccine,to be calledCovovax,byJune2021.AftertheOxford-AstraZenecaCovishieldvaccine,thiswill be the secondvaccinefromSIIandathirdvac-cine forIndia.“Ourpartnershipfor a Covid-19 vaccine withNovavaxhaspublishedexcellentefficacyresults.Wehaveappliedto start trials in India,” Poon-awallatweetedonSaturday.

ContinuedonPage16

● Real-lifecelebrity pairsmake sense forbrands in termsof visibility aswell as fees

RISHI RANJAN KALANewDelhi, January 30

THE INDIAN WAREHOUSINGand logistics industry had anadmirablerunlastyearasCovid-19forcedbusinessestofocusoncontinuity plans and supplychain constraints.The growthmomentumisexpectedtocon-tinue in2021as sectors like e-commerce,FMCGandpharma-ceuticals look to penetratedeeperintotierIIandIIIcities.Logisticsplayersandanalysts

areconvincedaboutthesector’sperformanceas theysaythat e-commercefirmswillcontinuetopushforcost-efficientandswiftlast-miledelivery.

Besides, the growingdemand for cold chains, andwithIndiavyingtobeamanu-facturing hub, the require-ment for large automatedwarehouses and omni-chan-nel logisticssolutionswillcon-

tinue to grow. As per SavillsIndia, industrial and ware-housing space absorption isexpectedtogrow83%y-o-yto47.7msqft in2021,drivenbyrobust growth in e-commerceandmanufacturing.

Offer to put farm lawsin abeyance stands: PM

INDUSTRYEXPECTATIONS

‘Budget an opportunity forthe govt to support tourism’

IVINDER GILLNewDelhi, January 30

“Umeed pe duniya kayam hai,buthopeisnotastrategy,”saysIHCL CEO and MD PuneetChhatwal,who is also head ofthe Hotel Association of Indiaand chairman of the CIInational committee ontourismandhospitality,when

weaskhimwhat expectationshehas fromtheBudget.SpeakingwithSundayFEon

theoccasionofthelaunchofTheConnaughtunderIHCL’sSeleq-tionsportfolio inNewDelhi onFridayevening,Chhatwal saidtheyhavemade several repre-sentations to the government

for relief to the tourism indus-try.“TheBudget is anopportu-nity for the government to dosomething to support a sectorthat is the largestmultiplicatorof jobs,especially in the unor-ganisedsector,”hesays.“I lookat itunderthreepil-

lars — policy, taxation andstimulus.BypolicyImeanhowyou treat tourism. Is it infra-structureoris itgettingindus-trystatus?Bytaxation,theper-ception is that all hotels arefive stars, so we face heavytaxes. By stimulus I mean togenerate demand and incen-tivisetravel,perhapsbyreduc-ing taxes,”he says.

Full interviewonPage5

Internetsuspendedat 3 protestsites

THE MINISTRYOF homeaffairs has temporarilysuspended internet ser-vices at the Singhu,Ghazipur, andTikri bor-ders,wherefarmershavebeen protesting againstthenewagrilaws,anoffi-cial saidonSaturday.Apart from the three

bordersofDelhi,internetserviceswill remain sus-pended in their adjoin-ing areas too, effectivefrom 11 pm of January29 to 11 pm of January31,theofficial said.Thedecisionhasbeen

taken to"maintain pub-lic safety and avertingpublicemergency"underTemporary Suspensionof Telecom Services(Public Emergency orPublic Safety) Rules2017,theofficial said.

—PTI

Industrial & warehousing space scenario

41 36

205

22 26

230

48 48

278

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Supply Absorption Stock

2019

2020

2021

(Million sq ft)

● IHCL CEO&MD PuneetChhatwal talksabout incentivesto boost sector

Puneet Chhatwal,IHCLCEO andMD

INDIAPLANSTO introduceabill seekingto prohibit all private cryptocurrenciesinthecountryduringtheBudgetsessionof Parliament that began Friday. Theproposed lawwill provide a frameworkforthecreationofanofficialdigitalcur-rencytobeissuedbytheReserveBankofIndia and allow certain exceptions to

promote blockchain, the underlyingtechnology of cryptocurrency and itsuses,accordingtoabulletinofthelowerhouseofparliament.The central bank is looking into the

need foradigitalversionof the fiat cur-rencyandhowto implement it.India’smonetarypolicyregulatorhad

in2018bannedcryptotransactionsafterastringof frauds in themonths followingPrimeMinisterNarendraModi’s suddendecision toban80%of thenation’s cur-rency. Cryptocurrency exchangesrespondedwitha lawsuit in theSupremeCourt in September andwon respite inMarch2020. —BLOOMBERG

Bill to ban cryptocurrencies likely during Budget session

■ In 2019, FlipkartFashion and Lays

signed Ranbir KapoorAlia Bhatt together for

advertisingcampaigns

■Ranveer Singh andDeepika Padukoneendorsed Jio duringIPL2020 and Lloydair-conditioners

in 2019

■Manyavar roped inAnushka Sharma

alongwith cricketerVirat Kohliwhowasalready endorsing

the brand

■ Astar of the stature ofKohli charges about `5-6 croreper dayas his endorsement fee, and the rate for a pair could be in therange of`8-12 crore

PAIR PLAY

ICICI Bank net profitup 19%at `4,940 cr

Brands leverage chemistry amongceleb couples

❝India needs to makeefforts to get ratingupgrade in linewithfundamentals

—KRISHNAMURTHYVSUBRAMANIAN ,CHIEFECONOMICADVISER

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader RakeshTikait addressesfarmers at Ghazipur border in NewDelhi on Saturday PTI

Net interestincome Provisions Net profit

Q3FY20

Report cardQ3FY21

(` crore)

«

% chg

Change

10bps

157bps

86bps

16 31.64 19.15

8,545

9,912

2,083 4,146

2,742 4,940

3.77

5.95

1.49

3.67

4.38

0.63

NIM

GrossNPA

NetNPA

(in %)

Source: BSE

Pune

NOTHING IS GOING well for the gov-ernment. The farmers are angry, theprotests have spread to other parts ofthecountry,and the farmersofPunjab,Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are deeplyhurt by what they believe to be themachinations of the central govern-ment and the BJP. China has dug itsheels and has refused to vacate Indianterritory that its troops have occupied.The Budget is being presented underextremelystrainedcircumstanceswithlowerrevenuesandhigherdemands.Allbut one ally have left the NDA; thecrypto-allies (YSRCP, TRS, BJD, BSP)have distanced themselves on con-tentious issues; and the alienationbetween theTreasuryBenches and theOpposition is complete.ThePresident'sAddressdidnotcon-

tain any new or imaginative agenda.The speech revealed that the govern-ment was looking at the country'sfuture through the rear-viewmirror.The next opportunity is the Budget for2021-22.

Disaster to catastropheIhope theBudgetdoesnot share the

fate of the previous Budget (for 2020-21). That Budget began to unravelwithin weeks of its presentation. TheFinanceMinisterherselfunmademanyof the announcements she had made.Evenwithout the pandemic, the econ-omy would have continued on thedownward path that had begun in thefirstquarterof2018-19andcontinuedfor eight successive quarters endingMarch31,2020.Thepandemicpushedthe economy into an abyss: -23.9% inthe first quarter of 2020-21 and-7.5 % in the second quarter.Ms Sitharaman has the distinction ofpresiding over the first recession infortyyears.It isnowacknowledgedthat theyear

2020-21 will end with negativegrowth. The revenue target will bemissed by a large margin, capitalinvestmentwill take a hit, the revenuedeficit will be close to 5% and the realfiscal deficit will cross 7 %. Budget2020-21was adisasterat the start andwill be a catastrophe at the end of thefiscal year.The reality is that the economy is in

a recession; current unemploymentrates are high (rural: 9.2% and urban:8.9%); anti-farmer laws andretrograde import/export policies foragricultural produce have hinderedagricultural growth; the industry sec-torhas not attracted huge investment;exports and imports are in the dol-drums because of the government'sprotectionist policies and because theworld's economy is limping; andinequalities have grown. India mayhaveearnedtheprize forbeinghometothe largest number of poor people,overtakingNigeria.The foregoing is thecontribution of the Modi governmentat the end of sevenyears!

K-shaped recoveryThere will be no V shaped recovery.

TosearchforonewillbeVainandtopre-dict onewill beVanity.The Chief Econ-omist of IMF, Dr Gita Gopinath, hasstated that the Indian economy willreachpre-COVID levelsonly in2025.Ifthere isa recoveryof sorts,itwill resem-ble the letter K — some will see theirincome and wealth grow while themajoritywill sufferpain and economic

loss. That is exactlywhat happened inthe pandemic-affected year (2020-21)as revealed in a study by Oxfam titled'InequalityVirus'.I don'twish to anticipate the Budget.

Thereisauniversaldemandforincreaseininvestment in health infrastructure andincreaseindefenceexpenditure,andIsup-port that demand.The FMmayprovidemore funds under the twoheads.Other-wise,Ihavenoexpectationsofthisgovern-ment. In the past, theyhave been excep-tionallyobstinateandimpervioustogoodadvice,andIdonotseeanychangeintheirapproachorbehaviour.I shallmakemywish list secure in the

knowledgethattheywillbeignoredbythegovernment!Intheunlikelyeventofsomesuggestionsbeingaccepted,itwould cer-tainlynotbeacknowledged!

Mywish listHere goes my list (and I have delib-

erately limited it to 10):

1. Impart a large fiscal stimulus tothe economy,even if it is belated.2.Makedirect cashtransfers to30%

of the families at the bottom of theeconomyforaperiodof sixmonthsandreview the situation afterwards.3.Devisea rescueplanforMSMEs in

order to reach pre-slowdown produc-tion levels and recover the jobs thatwere lost.4. Reduce tax rates, especially the

GST rates, and the crippling taxes onpetrol and diesel.5. Increase government's capital

expenditure. In the current year, thecapital expenditure of the centralgovernment and state governmentsare falling woefully short of the bud-geted amounts.6. Lending must be increased.

Hence,recapitalise public sectorbanksurgently and encourage them to lendwithout the fear that every loanwill beprobed by the investigating agencies.

7. Protectionism is outdated andwrong. Protectionism has hurt Indianindustry.Acurrentaccount surplus inadeveloping country is not a matter ofcelebration.Abandon the bias againstimports, re-engagewith theworld andenter into bilateral trade agreements.8. Formulate sector-specific revival

packages for sectors such as Telecom-munication, Power, Construction,Mining,Aviation and Travel, Tourism&Hospitality.9.Reviewand rescind amendments

to tax laws that are widely viewed astax terrorism.10.Reviewthe regulationsmade by

various regulatory bodies and correctthe effect of over-regulation.Since I have no expectations

I am prepared to be disappointed onFebruary1.

Website: pchidambaram.inTwitter@Pchidambaram_IN

OpinionSUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2021

FE SUNDAY2 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

ACROSSTHE

AISLEPChidambaram

Noexpectations,nodisappointment

Farmers and their supporters during the protest over Centre's farm reform laws, at Ghazipur border in NewDelhi PTI

SUNILGAVASKAR INhisbookSunnyDaysdocumentedhowIndia's tourof Englandin1974haddescendedintochaosafterthevisitorswere bowled out for42 at Lord's.FromthecontroversyatIndianHighCom-missioner's place to opener SudhirNaikbeingaccusedofshopliftinganddressing-roomdiscord;itwas'BlightinBlighty'.After India returned home with the

West Indies coming fora five-Test seriesthe followingwinter, India faced a cap-taincycrisis.AjitWadekarwasleftoutoftheWest Zone team,let alone India,after theEngland tour. Gavaskar was still prettyyoung and the BCCI had to fall back onMansoorAli Khan (Tiger) Pataudi to reju-venateabeleagueredside.Indiaspectacularlybouncedbackfrom

2-0downtomakeit2-2andalthoughtheylost the series to the Caribbeans 3-2,Pataudi had steadied the ship.The greatcaptain neverpressed the panic button.Calmness,composure and tactical nous

had been the hallmark of his captaincy.AjinkyaRahanehas performed the art ofcaptaincywith such aplomb inAustraliathatBishanSinghBedicomparedhimwithPataudi.As faras leadership is concerned,that's theultimate fora captain in Indiancricket.Butwewouldcometothatlater.During a private conversationwith

Raj SinghDungarpurmanymoons ago,this correspondent had the privilege oflistening to the formerBCCIpresident,aconnoisseur of the game, analysingcricketcaptaincythreadbare."Captaincyis not about winning percentage. I tellyou a story... After losing the first twoTestsagainst theWest Indies (1974-75),Indiawere staring at defeat in the thirdTest inCalcuttaalso.West Indieswere inagoodpositiononthefifthdayandCliveLloyd was still at the crease. Chandra(BhagwathChandrasekhar)bowledafewexpensiveovers anda full houseatEdenGardenswas in fact barrackingTiger forcontinuingwith the leg-spinner.Tiger,though,refused to budge.Chandra thenworked his magic, removing Lloyd,(Alvin)Kallicharranand (Bernard) Julienin quick succession.TheTestmatchwaswon.That,myfriend,is great captaincy,"Rajbhaihadwaxed lyrical.CuttoDharamsalainMarch2017.The

India-AustraliaTest serieswas tiedat1-1,

asDharamsala hosted the decider.ViratKohlimissedthegameduetoaninjuryandforthefirsttime,RahaneledIndia.Hisfirstdecision,inconjunctionwiththennationalteamheadcoachAnilKumble,wastohandKuldeep Yadav his Test debut. It was an

attackingdecision.Evenmore adventur-ouswashisdecisiontobringthedebutantchinaman bowler into the attack,whenDavidWarnerandSteveSmithhadbeeninthemiddle of a fine partnership duringAustralia's first innings.Yadavbroke the

partnership and went on to claim fourwickets,tiltingthebalanceinIndia'sfavourintheprocess.TheTestwaswon.Coming into the secondTest inMel-

bourne during the recently concludedseries inAustralia, India's situationwasprettysimilartothe'Summerof42'inEng-land46yearsago.Theghostof36alloutinAdelaideandwithouttheirregularcaptainKohli,who returned home on paternityleave,theteamcouldhavebeentornapart.They galvanised instead under Rahane,whowascalmnesspersonifiedevenatthetimewhenTimPaine'sverymarginalrun-outcallwentinAustralia'sfavour.WhatIndiapulledoff inAustraliawith

a severely depleted squad was nothingshortofamiracle.Rahanepresidedoverhiscountry'sfinesthour.Heledfromthefrontwith a superbhundred inMelbourne.Hebowlingchangesandfieldplacementshadbeenspoton.InallthreeTests,heout-cap-tainedhisAustraliancounterpartPaine."Personally,I am flooredwith theway

Rahaneconjuredmagicfrombrokenbod-ies around him.Thewayhe handled hismeagre resources reminds me of TigerPataudi,who throughout his captaincytenure was woefully short of a well-roundedunitbuthisleadershipalonegaveIndiancricketfreshlegs.ItwasPataudiwhodefinedan"Indianness"inourcricket.Heinfused in us a thrilling sense of beingtogether in this ride," Bedi wrote in TheIndianExpress.Mind,thelikesofBedi,Chandrasekhar,

Erapalli Prasanna; and avastmajorityof

thosewhoplayedunderPataudi,stillalludetothegreatmanas"theircaptain".Such isthe level of respect foramanwhopassedawayin2011.SoBedi comparingRahanewith his hero has been the ultimateaccoladeforthemanwhostoodinforKohliinAustralia.Should Rahane bemade the perma-

nentTest captain?Thequestionhas tobeasked.Bedi backs the idea.The legendaryformer Australia captain Ian Chappellthinks that Rahane is a "born leader".Expectedly,Kohli is back to captain IndiafortheupcominghomeTestseriesagainstEnglandandIndiancrickethasmovedonfrom the1970s and80s,when the teamused tohave several captaincyaspirants,and the incumbents always looking overtheirshoulder.Rahanewill not snap at Kohli's heels.

"We both are really close, really goodfriends.We just want to do well for ourcountry.Letmetellyouone thing,Virat isthecaptainnowandIamthevice-captain,andwhateverwashappeningbeforeViratleft, itwill just be the same.He is the cap-tain and I am enjoying my role. (I am)happyto take a backseat nowduring theEngland series," he said at The IndianExpressIdeaExchange.All said and done,with a better cap-

tain available,Kohli will nowhave littlemargin for error.His everymovewill beput under themicroscope.Rahane hasgrown immensely in stature during theAustralia series. Succession in the longruncouldbe inevitable.

Captain fantastic

Indian captainAjinkya Rahane talks to umpire Bruce Oxenford AP

R.N.I. Reg. No. MAHENG/2010/34808 Printed andpublishedbyVaidehi ChintamanThakar on behalf ofThe Indian Express Private Limited andprinted at Indian Express Private Limited Press, SurveyNo. 288, Plot 1 and 2, Raisoni Industrial Park,VillageMaan,TalukaMulshi, District Pune-411027 andpublished atThe Indian Express Private Limited, Express House, Plot No. 1205/2/6, Shirole Road, Shivajinagar, Pune-411004. Phone: 67241000, Fax: 67241047.

Chairman of the Board:ViveckGoenka,Managing Editor: Sunil Jain, Resident Editor: Malini Bhupta* (*Responsible for selection ofnews under PRBAct). ©Copyright:The Indian Express Private Limited.All rights reserved. Reproduction in anymanner, electronic or otherwise, inwhole or in part,without priorwritten permission is prohibited. The Financial Express®

AjinkyaRahane performed the art of captaincywithgreat aplomb inAustralia.Canhe finally lead the team?

RINGSIDE

VIEWShamikChakrabarty

INSIDE

TRACK

Shrinking spaceItwasapparentat thestartof theLokSabhaonFridaythat theoldorderinParliamenthasyieldedtoacompletelynew,unfamiliarworld,at least forthemedia.Partof thechange is the landscape.Forinstance,the landmarkseatedstatueof theMahatmahasbeenshiftedfromtheporticoentrance inpreparationforconstructinganewparliament.Muchof thecompoundhasbeenduguptorelocatepipes,cablesandotherinfrastructure.Entryfornewspersons is throughtheParliamentAnnexe.Thenumberof journalistscoveringParliamenthasbeenrestrictedtoabareminimum.TheRailwaycanteenwhichhandledcateringfortheParliamentcomplex,probablysinceits inception,hasbeenreplacedbythefarmoreexpensive IndiaTourismDevelopmentCorporation.CentralHall,thefamoushubwhichservedasameetingplaceforseniorscribes,MPsandex-MPs,isoutofboundsforall exceptsittingmembers.Someofthesechangescanbeduetothepandemicandthebuildingactivityforanewparliament.But thereasonfornotrenewingLokSabhapasses foraccredited journalists intheLongandDistinguishedcategoryseemspartofa largerpatternforshrinkingthemediaspace.

No hurryIndiandiplomacygotaboostershotwiththeCovidvaccineexports.Ourdiplomats intheneighbouringcountriespressedtheMEAforgettingthefirstbatchofvaccines forthehostcountries toearngoodwill.Intherunningwere: theMaldives,Bangladesh,Nepal,SriLanka.Brazil,withthesecondlargest fatalitiesaftertheUS,wasfirst tomakeadownpaymentforaconsignment.Intheend,thegovernmentoptedtodispatchthefirstbatchtoBhutan.Ironically,theBhutanesewillnotutilise thevaccines forwelloveramonthsinceaninauspiciousperiod,'Dana',beginsshortlyandwouldendonlyinearlyMarch.TheBhutangovernment intendstolaunchavaccinationdriveat theendofDana.

No photo-opAmit Shah cancelled his trip toChennaionJanuary14wherehewasto be the chief guest at theanniversary celebrations of theThuglakmagazinenoweditedbytheSangh ideologue S Gurumurthy.Instead,he flew toAhmedabad for akite flying festival. Shah who metTamilNaduCMEKPalaniswamilaterthismonthinDelhiexpressedannoy-ance that the BJP inTamil Nadu hadwasted a precious six monthsbecause Gurumurthy had led theparty to believe that actor

Rajinikanthwouldallywiththem.Healso vetoed Gurumurthy's proposalto include V K Sasikala in theAIADMK-BJP alliance. Incidentally,there wasmuch speculation in theTamil media as to why NarendraModi was missing in the postersshowing EPS and Shah togetherannouncing the BJP-AIADMKalliance.Theexplanationwassimple:Modiwassittingatoneendofthe12-foot-long Cabinet table inDelhi andEPS at the opposite end. Itwas hardfor lensmen to capture them in thesameframe.Andbecausepresentingshawlsandgarlandsisbannedduetothepandemic,therewasnophoto-op.

NewavataarInhisearlierstintasMadhyaPradeshCM,ShivrajSinghChouhanpridedhimselfonrunninganinclusiveandconciliatoryadministration,whichensuredallsectionsofsocietywereonboard,incontrast toUPCMYogiAdityanath'sdivisive image.Forinstance,MadhyaPradesh'skanyadaanschemefornewly-weds includedminorities.HehostedIftaarpartiesforEidwherehedonnedaskull cap.HeallowedexemptionstothosenotsingingVandeMataramorrecitingthebhojanmantra.But inhisnewavataar,Chouhanappears tobemodelinghimselfonAdityanathwithahardlineHindutvaapproachsincehecannolongerriskdispleasingModiandShah.Chouhanhas introduced love jihadlawsandimposedharshpenalties.Recently,thestatepolicearrestedcomedianMunawarFaruqui foroffendingreligioussentiments,evenbefore theperformerhadactuallyutteredanoffensiveword.

Yedi's 9 livesInthe last fewmonths,it seemedasif thescandal-hitKarnatakaCMBSYediyurappamightfinallybeonthewayout.Apowerful lobbyledbyBJP'sgeneral secretary(organisation)BLSanthoshisagainsthim.Besides,theunenviabletaskofmeetingministerialaspirationsofMLAswhohaddefectedfromotherpartiesandtheoldBJPloyalistswasprovingtobeahugeheadache.Yet,despitesomehiccups,the78-year-oldwarhorseseemstohavepulled itoffagain.Apparently,PMModiandAmitShahwereagainst replacingYediyurappa,fearing itwouldriskthefallof thegovernmentgiven itswafer-thinmajorityintheAssembly.Yediyurappaexpressedgratitude,comparingShahtoSardarPatel,bothbeingGujaratihomeministers,whichnodoubtpleasedShahimmensely.AsHomeMinisterintheAtalBihariVajpayeegovernment,LKAdvani,dubbedasLohPurush,likewisewascomparedwiththeSardar.

COOMIKAPOOR

Pune

PRESSTRUSTOF INDIA

NewDelhi, January 30

URGING THE SUPREME

Court to come to the rescueof peoplewhohad investedinnow-closedFranklinTem-pleton schemes, investors’body CFMA on Saturdayclaimedmore than10mu-tual funds (MFs)mayother-wise go the samewaycreat-ing an MF pandemiccomparable to the US sub-primecrisis.In a press release,CFMA

(Chennai FinancialMarkets&Accountability)saidtheju-diciary is the only hope forover three croreunitholdersof various mutual fundschemes in the country, in-cluding those who had in-

vested in FranklinTemple-tonschemes.Without disclosing the

source of its information tobackupitsclaim,CFMAsaidithaslearnedthatmorethan10 other MFs want to puttheir losses onunitholders’heads and are onlywaitingfor the SupremeCourt ver-dict.The apex court is hear-ingpleas,includingonefiledby Franklin Templetonagainst a Karnataka HighCourtorderthatstoppedthe

fundhousefromwindingupits debt fund schemeswith-out the prior consent of theinvestors.FranklinTempletonMF

hadannouncedclosureofsixdebt schemes on April 23,2020, citing redemptionpressureandlackofliquidityin thebondmarket. Capitalmarket regulator Sebi hadsubsequentlyaskedthefundhouseonmultipleoccasionsto focus on repaying the in-vestorsattheearliest.

FE BUREAU

Chennai. January 30

THETAMILNADU governmenthas cleared a proposal byTataElectronics to set up amobilephone componentsmanufac-turing plant in Krishnagiridistrict at an investment of`5,763crore,whichwill create18,250 jobs.ThestateCabinet,underthe

chairmanship chief ministerEdappadi K Palaniswami, lateonFridayeveninggaveapprovalfor 34 major investmentproposals,includingthatofTataand Pegatron Corporation ofTaiwan, a contract manufac-turerforApple,whichwillspend`1,100crore inphase-I invest-mentandcreate14,079 jobs inChengelpet district to set up a

mobile phonemanufacturingplant.TheCabinet also clearedtheTamil Nadu government’snew industrial policy, 2021,whichwillbeunveiledsoon.The34proposals approved

involve an investment of`52,257crore andhas the po-tential to create 93,935 jobs.The investments aremostly insectorslikeelectronics,automo-bile and auto-components,including electricvehicles andsolar cell manufacturing, astatement by the stategovernment said.Some of themajor investments that havebeen approved include that ofLuxshare ofTaiwan,whichwillpump in`745crore andcreate4,000 jobs tomake electroniccomponents andwearables atSriperumbudur, reviving the

defunctMotorolafactory.Sun Edison will infuse

`4,629croreandemploy5,397people in the state to producesolar PVmodules.Ola Electricwill put in `2,354 crore andcreate employment for 2,182people at SIPCOT park inBargur, Krishnagiri district,for making electric vehiclesandbatteries.EickhoffWind,aGerman company, will invest`621croreandhire319peopletomanufacture gearboxes forwind energyproduction,nearChennai.This is a relocationofthe production facility fromChina and Germany. BASF ofGermany, one of the world’slargestchemicalcompanies,willinvest `345 crore and create235jobstomakeauto-emissioncatalystsinChengalpetdistrict.

TNnodtoTata’s`5,763-croreplan tobuildmobilepartsunit

CFMA: Over 10MFsmay goFranklinTempletonway

3FE SUNDAY

WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2021

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''IMPORTANT''

Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance of advertisingcopy, it is not possible to verify its contents. The IndianExpress (P.) Limited cannot be held responsible forsuch contents, nor for any loss or damage incurred asa result of transactions with companies, associations orindividuals advertising in its newspapers orPublications. We therefore recommend that readersmake necessary inquiries before sending any moniesor entering into any agreements with advertisers orotherwise acting on an advertisement in any mannerwhatsoever.

EDUCATIONAL EDUCATIONAL

Mumbai

January 30, 2021

For Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited(Formerly known as Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Limited)

(Asset Management Company for Nippon India Mutual Fund)Sd/-

Authorised Signatory

Make even idle money work! Invest in Mutual Funds

Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.

NOTICE NO. 104 Record Date

February 05, 2021DIVIDEND DECLARATIONNotice is hereby given that the Trustee of Nippon India Mutual Fund (“NIMF”) has approved declaration of dividendon the face value of Rs. 10/- per unit in the undernoted scheme of NIMF, with February 05, 2021 as the record date:

Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited(Formerly known as Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Limited)

(CIN - L65910MH1995PLC220793)

Registered Office: 4th Floor, Tower A, Peninsula Business Park, Ganapatrao KadamMarg, Lower Parel (W),Mumbai - 400 013. Tel No. +91 022 6808 7000 • Fax No. +91 022 6808 7097 • mf.nipponindiaim.com

Name of the Scheme(s)Dividend

(` per unit)*NAV as on January28, 2021 (` per unit)

Nippon India Banking Fund - Dividend Plan3.2500

43.0167

Nippon India Banking Fund - Direct Plan - Dividend Plan 56.7007

*Income distribution will be done/dividend will be paid, net of tax deducted at source, as applicable.

Pursuant to payment of dividend, the NAV of the Scheme will fall to the extent of payout,and statutory levy, if any. The dividend payout will be to the extent of abovementioned dividend per unitor to the extent of available distributable surplus, as on the Record Date mentioned above, whichever is lower.

For units in demat form :Dividendwill be paid to those Unitholders/Beneficial Owners whose names appearin the statement of beneficial owners maintained by the Depositories under dividend plan/option of theScheme as on record date.

All unit holders under the dividend plan/option of the abovementioned scheme, whose names appear on theregister of unit holders on the aforesaid record date, will be entitled to receive the dividend.

Revision in Exit Load Structure of Nippon India Growth Fund w.e.f. February 02, 2021

Notice is hereby given that Nippon IndiaMutual Fund (“NIMF”)/ Nippon Life India AssetManagement Limited (“NAM India”)has decided to revise the Exit Load of the Nippon India Growth Fund w.e.f. February 02, 2021. The details of the same areas follows:

Existing Exit Load Revised Exit Load

10% of the units allotted shall be redeemed without any exit load, onor before completion of 12 months from the date of allotment of units.

Any redemption in excess of such limit in the first 12 months fromthe date of allotment shall be subject to the following exit load,Redemption of units would be done on First in First out Basis (FIFO):

• 1% if redeemed or switched out on or before completion of 12months from the date of allotment of units.

• Nil, thereafter.

1% if redeemed or switched out on or beforecompletion of 1 month from the date ofallotment of units. Nil, thereafter.

W.E.F. October 01, 2012, Exit Load If charged to the scheme shall be credited to the scheme immediately net of goods andservice tax, if any. The revision in exit load shall be applicable on a prospective basis to; (a) all the subscription transactions(including switch-in) processed with NAV of February 02, 2021 and thereafter, irrespective of receipt of application.(b) all the systematic transactions such as Systematic Investment Plan and Systematic Transfer Plan etc. where registrations/ enrolments have been done on or after effective date.

This addendum forms an integral part of the Scheme Information Document / Key Information Memorandum of theScheme. All the other terms and conditions of the aforesaid documents read with the addenda issued from time to timewill remain unchanged.

NOTICE CUM ADDENDUM NO. 105

1 TotalRevenue fromOperations 1,587.51 3,065.60 3,236.27 1,657.12 3,308.71 3,298.77

2 NetProfit for theperiod (beforeTax,Exceptional

and/orExtraordinary items) 362.94 376.95 1,379.20 269.28 193.85 1,291.71

3 NetProfit for the period before tax (after

Exceptionaland/orExtraordinary items) 362.94 376.95 1,379.20 269.28 193.85 1,291.71

4 Net Profit for the period after tax (after

Exceptionaland/orExtraordinary items) 268.86 277.12 1,047.83 175.20 94.02 977.17

5 TotalComprehensive Income for theperiod

[ComprisingProfit after tax andOther

Comprehensive Income(after tax)] 268.86 277.12 1,047.83 177.41 122.77 971.25

6 Paid upEquityShareCapital

( Rs.1/- Per Equity Share) 795.10 795.10 771.60 795.10 795.10 771.60

7 Reserves (excludingRevaluationReserveas

shown in theBalanceSheetofpreviousyear

ended) 20,378.03 20,378.03 17,320.35 19,469.21 19,469.21 16,495.52

8 Earnings Per Share (of Rs.1/- each)

(NotAnnualised):

a) Basic 0.34 0.35 1.36 0.29 0.22 1.33

b)Diluted 0.34 0.35 1.36 0.29 0.22 1.33

Note : The above is an extract of the detailed format of Quarterly Financial Results fieldwith theStock Exchange underRegulations 33 of theSEBI

(Listing andOther Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. The full format of the Quarterly Financial Results are available on company's

website at www.zentechnologies.comand the stock exchange'swebsites, www.nseindia.comandwww.bseindia.com.

Place: Hyderabad

Date : 30-01-2021

Sr.

No.

QUARTER

ENDED

31-12-2020

(Unaudited)

9 MONTHS

ENDED

31-12-2020

(Unaudited)

(Rs. In lacsExcept forEPS)

QUARTER

ENDED

31-12-2019

(Unaudited)

EXTRACTOFUN-AUDITED FINANCIALRESULTSFORTHEQUARTER

ANDNINEMONTHSENDED31STDECEMBER2020

CONSOLIDATEDSTANDALONE

CIN: L72200TG1993PLC015939

B-42, Industrial Estate, Sananthnagar, Hyderabad, Telangana-500018

ZENTECHNOLOGIESLIMITED

For and on behalf of the Board

Sd/-

Ashok Atluri

Chairman andManaging Director

DIN:00056050

QUARTER

ENDED

31-12-2020

(Unaudited)

9 MONTHS

ENDED

31-12-2020

(Unaudited)

QUARTER

ENDED

31-12-2019

(Unaudited)

Statement of Deviation / Variation in utilisation of funds raised

Name of listed entity Zen Technologies Limited

Mode of Fund Raising Preferential Issue of convertible warrants

Date of Raising Funds 1) 04/02/2019 - Date of allotment of warrants

2) 03/09/2020 - Date of allotment of equity

shares upon conversion of warrants

Amount Raised (inRs. )* 178,595,440/-

Report filed for Quarter ended December 31, 2020

Monitoring Agency Not Applicable

MonitoringAgencyName,ifapplicable Not Applicable

Is there a Deviation / Variation in use of funds

raised No

If yes,whether the same is pursuant to change

in terms of a contract or objects, which was

approved by the shareholders Not Applicable

IfYes,Date of shareholderApproval Not Applicable

Explanationfor theDeviation/Variation Not Applicable

Comments of the Audit Committee after review None

Comments of the auditors, if any None

PARTICULARS

Objects for which funds have been raised and where there has been a deviation, in the following table

Modified

Object, if

any

Original

Allocation

Modified

allocation,

if any

Funds Utilised Amount of Deviation/

Variation for thequarter

according toapplicableobject

Remarks

if any

ORIGINAL OBJECT

The proceeds of the preferential

issue will be utilized towards No

research and development (R&D), Deviations

potential acquisitions, NA 178,595,440 NA 4,46,48,860 NONE or

export promotion, working Variations

capital, capital expenditure

and general corporate purposes.

*Out of the total amount raised, 25%of the amount i.e., Rs. 4,46,48,860/- has been received by the company towards warrant subscription at

the time of allotment of warrants. Further, the balance 75% of the amount i.e., Rs. 13,39,46,580/- has been received at the time of allotment of

equity shares upon conversion of warrants.

Deviation or variation couldmean:

(a) Deviation in the objects or purposes for which the funds have been raised or

(b) Deviation in the amount of funds actually utilized as against what was originally disclosed or

(c) Change in terms of a contract referred to in the fund raising document i.e. prospectus, letter of offer, etc

Note: Unutilised amounts of the issue as at December 31, 2020 have been temporarily deployed in fixed

deposit with ScheduledBanks.

Pune

AmishTripathi’s new book is a work ofnon-fiction,the second forthebest-sellingauthor of the Shiva Trilogy and RamChandra series. Co-authored with oldersisterBhavna Roy,Dharma: DecodingTheEpicsForaMeaningfulLifehasbeena long time in the making. Employing aconversational style, the authors deftlyweigh the benefit of philosophies embed-dedinstoriesfromancientIndianepics.Ina Zoom interviewwith FaizalKhan,Tri-pathi, currently director ofNehru Centre,London,andRoyreflectontheimportanceofIndia’straditionalknowledgeinthedif-ficult times today.Editedexcerpts:

Howdidtheseriescomeabout?AmishTripathi:This book has been

long in the making. I think my sisterwouldbeabetterpersonto talkabout it.Bhavna Roy: The project began in

2013-14.Weare a close-knit familyandaround 2014we got talking about idolworship, the philosophical basis of idolworship.Amish,whose three serieswereout already,suggested that Iwrite aboutit.InitiallyIwroteabout15-20pagesandsent them to him.He calledme up andwasveryforthright.“This isnothappen-ing.This isverytheoreticalandnotread-able.Let’sworkon it,”he said.He convertedmy20 pages into con-

versations. He created this wonderfulfamily of parents,a daughter and a son-in-law.It isprimarilyadebatebetweenaman and his father-in-law.He created aguru-shishyarelationshipbetweenamanandhis son-in-law.The scriptwent backand forth between us till 2016when itwent into cold storage for personal rea-sons.Duringthepandemic,hecalledmeuponedayandsuggestedwestartwork-ingon itonceagain.

Didyouconsideritasaserieswhenyoustartedwriting?AmishTripathi:Yes,there aremany

conversations thatneed to takeplaceonthis.Oneof thekeythings torealisewithdharma isthattheveryconceptisbeyondreligion. Dharma is also erroneouslytranslatedasreligioninIndia.Attherootof theword,dharma, is a Sanskrit root,dhri,whichmeans to bind.The questionthat always animated our ancestorsacross all religions, all communities themostistheanswertothisquestion,Whatisdharma? In finding the answer to thatweactuallylearnhowtolive.Philosophy,at least thewayour ancestors show it, isdifferentfromthewaymodernwestern-ers see it, where philosophy has beenreduced to a subject that is simply stud-iedinthehumanitiesstream.Somethingto just graduate and something you dosomemental calisthenicswith it.For our ancestors philosophy was

essentially learninghowto liveyour life.It is a critical skill that sadlymost of usdon’t have these days.One can actuallykeep debating this subject for an entirelifetime. Remember, your concept ofdharmawill be different frommy con-cept ofdharma simplybecause ourbackstories are different and our life experi-encesaredifferent.Wearegoingtocarry

forwardthisseriesintheformofconver-sations. The Upanishads are writtenthrough conversations.Even the namesthatyou find in thebook—DharmaRaj,Nachiket,Gargi and Lopamudra — areactually symbolic of theUpanishads.Wewill discuss various aspects.One of thethings that could come up is how weshould react to a global pandemic likecoronavirus which has destroyed somanylives.BhavnaRoy:Weourselves are figur-

ing out howto live.Whatweare doing issharingevenasweare figuring itout.

The book is about conversations, buttherearealsostories.Howdoyoufigureoutthiscouldbethewayyoutalkaboutourrichpasttothepresentgeneration.Howimportantareourstories?Amish Tripathi: Stories are essen-

tially, in the traditional Indianway,vehi-cles to convey philosophies. They arenever stories by themselves, for all of usIndians regardless of religions andregions.Stories that define howwe lookat life are often there in The RamayanaandTheMahabharat.VedVyascomposedTheMahabharat,which is calledthe fifthveda,asawaytoconveythephilosophyofthe vedas through averygood story.TheMahabharatisastoryyoucan’tputdown.Theyarepageturnersandveryabsorbing.While listening to the story,you under-

stand the philosophyof the vedaswith-out realising it.This is the rolemodel forallwriters intheIndiantradition.If you read Bhima ofMTVasudevan

Nair,theEnglishtranslation(Bhima:LoneWarrior translated from theMalayalam— Randamoozham — by Gita Krish-nankutyy),itisacompletelydifferenttakeon TheMahabharat.The key thing is notso much the story that MT VasudevanNairputs across.It is thephilosophythat

you learn from his interpretation ofBhimathatmostIndianswillinstinctivelygetwhenyou read.Forus the stories arealways a vehicle for some philosophy. Itdoesn’tmatterifyoulearnadifferentphi-losophyandIlearnadifferentone.Thatisokay, that is the Indianway.All of uswillfindourownphilosophies.

There isapassage inthebookthatsaystherearemanypaths towisdomand itispossibleforeachofustofindourfatewithout compromising. How does itrelate to aworld of such conflicts anddifferent thoughts?BhavnaRoy:Theworld isdifficult,it

hasalwaysbeenso,evenduringtheRamRajya. Technology has added a mega-phonic dimension to human life andhuman state.Having said that the onlyway to deal with complexitymay be tofirst understand ourselves.UnderstandwhoIamandunderstandthepeopleIamrelating to.The onlyway I understandyou and the way you see the world iswhen I first understandmyself.When Ido understandmyself and I understandyou, that iswhen Iwill be able to figureoutwhether I should involve you inmylife.There isnootherway.Amish Tripathi: Gautam Buddha

hadsaid,thefirstofhisfournobletruths,that grief is reality.All of us are cursedwith our share of grief.None of us can

escape it.Life isnot aboutwhathappensto us, it is about howwe react to whathappens to us.And that is in our hands.Forustoget intothatconversation,meresaathkyunhorahahai,thatisademoral-ising conversation,because sab ke saathhorahahai.Everyoneinsomepartsoflifeis blessed with more than he deservesand in some parts is cursedwithmorethanhedeserves.This is lifeandthiswillalwaysbe.Thephilosophiesthatwelearnabout howwe react to itwill define howwewill live.Those are the things thatwetryandcover in thisbook.InmyRamChandra series,bothRam

and Ravan suffer. Life treats themunfairly. But Ram behaves differentlyand Ravan behaves differently. Ravansufferedgenuinely.Iamnotbelittlinghissuffering.But themore he suffered themoreangryhegot.HeonlymadeitworseforhimselfwhereasLordRam,themorehe suffered themore noble he became.Hesaid Iwouldneverstopgiving tooth-erswhat Ididnot receive.What itdoes isitchangestheconversationinyourlife.Ifyou start thinking in that way, it is themost empowering thought in life.Thereare peoplewho are blessedwith every-thingandstillunhappy.Therearepeoplewho are struggling and still happy. Somuch of it is inyourmind.You can be atpeaceeveninthetoughestofsituationsifyou have the right attitude. Look at somany doctors during the pandemicdoing their duty. I get somuch inspira-tionwhenIreadinterviewswithdoctors,our sanitation workers, nurses... theyhave such a positive attitude. That issomething to learn from.

InthebookNachiketaskshisfather-in-lawDharmaRajabouttheWuhancoro-navirus ‘the CPC (Communist Party ofChina) has unleashed on the world’.DharmaRaj’sanswerappearselusive.AmishTripathi:Iamnotsayingthat

democraciesareperfect.Therearemanyimprovementsthatcanbemade.Iamliv-inginawesterncountry.Manyimprove-mentscanbemadeinthedemocraciesinthe West and in India, southeast Asia,Australia, South Korea.There is no per-fection.But if there is a choice betweenlivinginaworldwhichismoredemocra-ticand living inaworldruledbyasuper-powerwhichisanauthoritarian,efficientcountry, I would much rather live in ademocraticworld.ButIthinkmanyofusindemocracies

across theworld have to kind of take astep back and stop our internal pettyrivalries within our democracies andbetween democracies aswell.There is abroadermoral issue forthenextgenera-tionthatwearefacing.Thekindofthingsthat are happening.Onemillion peopleare in concentration camps, organs arebeingharvestedwhiletheyarealive.Thisisnotokay.I amsayingonceagain,thereare many improvements that can bemade in democracies. This is the keymoral question for the next generation.Wehave tobeawareof it.

FaizalKhan isa freelancer

WordsWorthSUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2021

FESUNDAY4 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

MADAN SABNAVIS

EXTERNAL COMMERCIAL BOR-ROWINGS or ECBs as they aremorecommonlyreferredto,havebecome avery important source

of finance for corporates in recentyears.In fact,theyhaveenabledseveral compa-nies to borrowmoneyat a lowercost andhence fund their investment require-ments,which has helped in the overallgrowthprocess.Themainissuesconcern-ing this source of finance aswell as thepossible pitfalls in using them form thecoreofAshutoshRaravikar’sIndia’sExter-nalCommercialBorrowing.The author works with the central

bank and hence has a comprehensivegrip on the subject and has been able tobring out a fairly comprehensive analy-sis of thismarket.Startingwith the con-cept and the trends in their growth,heexplores the regulatory aspect as wellwhich encompasses the RBI guidelinesthat have been progressively liberalisedas part of the endeavour of the govern-ment toopenupmarkets.ECBs have complemented India Inc’s

borrowing options that were primarilydomesticforaverylongtime.Oflate,how-ever,theyhavegrowntobecomean inte-

gralpartofthefinancingstructurefortheeconomyandallestimatesoffuturefund-ing of growth invariably include ECBs asone of the sources.The RBI has ensuredthat there are limitsplacedon the cost ofsuchfundsaswellasthetenurestoensurethat we do not reach a situation wheretheyareusedindiscriminately,asthereareforexflowsinvolvedwhenitcomestoser-vicing such debt.By raising the floor oftenure, it is ensured that these funds areusedforlong-termratherthanshort-termfundingpurposes.Theauthorraisessomeverypertinent

issuesintermsofECBsbecomingapartofthegrowingexternaldebtof thecountry.While FDI is preferred as it does notinvolve servicing,the samedoesnotholdforECBs,whichhave to be serviced everyyear.The challenges,as theauthorpointsout,are that the currency rate becomesimportanthereastherearetendenciesforvolatilityat times,whichcanpushuptheservicing cost,as suchdebt is denoted inforeigncurrency.Iftherupeedepreciates,companieshavetopayhighercostforthedollars that have to be bought to servicedebt. This is eschewed in case they arerupee-denominated(masalabonds).He alsobrings in the concept ofhedg-

ingwhichisintegraltotheprocessofexter-

nalborrowing.Weneedtohavesuchmar-ketsavailablewhereborrowers canhedgetheirforexrisk.Usingdomesticexchangesisanoptionwheretherupeecostiscoveredtotheextentofthehedgingrequirement.But it does add to the overall cost of bor-rowing,which iswhat companies are try-ingtolowerwhentheysourcetheECBmar-ket. This is where the fundamentalconundrumarisesforborrowers.In the last decade or so following the

Lehmancrisis,therehasbeenatendencyofcentralbanksacrosstheworldtolowerinterest rates sharply to bring them attimestozeroorclosetozero.Inturn,thishas led to a combination of surplus liq-

uidity in the system, aswell as loweredthe cost of borrowing. This has madeexternalborrowingveryattractiveandasrates have remained low, the only riskcarriedwas forex.Here, too often, bor-rowers in India assume that the rupeewillnotfallverysharplyforalongperiodof time as the RBI has shown that it hasintervened in the past to steady rateswhenevertherehasbeenperiodicvolatil-ity in thedownwarddirection.Raravikar does hence present a good

handbookonthesubjectwhichwouldbeuseful to not just companies that aredeliberating on various options of

finance but also for students where allthe issues concerning ECBs are broughttothetable.This isveryrelevanttodayasthere are limits to long-term financingoptionsinthecountryintheabsenceofawell-developed corporate bondmarketwhichisopentoaselectsetofborrowers.Banks, too, would be handicapped intermsofasset-liabilitymismatcheswhenit comes to funding long-term lending.This iswhereECBscanfillpartlythegap.But,astheauthorkeepsreiteratinginhisanalysis,onehas tobewatchful.

MadanSabnavis ischiefeconomist,CARERatings

ECBdecodedAhandymanual on the issues and pitfallsconcerning external commercial borrowing

Dharma: Decodingthe Epics for aMeaningful LifeAmish & Bhavna Roy

Westland

Pp 224, `499

India’s ExternalCommercialBorrowing:

Features, Trends,Policy and IssuesAshutosh Raravikar

Ultimate Associates

Pp 56, `100

Co-authoredwitholder sister BhavnaRoy,AmishTripathi’s newbook is aworkofnon-fiction

‘Dharma is erroneouslytranslated as religion in India’

TheRBI building inMumbai BLOOMBERG

ONTHESHELF

KAMALA'S

WAY

DanMorainSimon&SchusterPp272, `699

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LANDSCAPES

OFLOSS

Kavitha IyerHarperCollinsPp252, `599

HOTSEAT

Jeff ImmeltHachettePp352, `699

THE

POPULATION

MYTH

SYQuraishiHarperCollinsPp336, `499

The Population Myth revealshow the right-wing spin topopulation data has givenrise to myths about the'Muslim rate of growth', oftenused to stoke majoritarianfears of a demographic skew.Quraishi uses facts to demolishthese and demonstrates how aplanned population is in theinterest of all communities.Based on impeccableresearch, this is an importantbook from a credible voice.

In September 2001, Jeff Immeltreplaced the most famous CEOin history, Jack Welch, at thehelm of General Electric. Lessthan a week into his tenure, the9/11 terrorist attacks shook theUS, and the company, to itscore. Immelt knew his responsewould set the tone forbusinesses everywhere thatlooked to GE. In Hot Seat, heoffers a candid interrogation ofhimself and his tenure, detailinghis proudest moments andbiggest mistakes.

Maharashtra, India’s richeststate by GDP, has its eyes seton becoming the country’s firsttrillion-dollar economy by 2025.At the same time, Marathwada,a historically backward part ofthe state, home to the UnescoWorld Heritage Sites of theAjanta and Ellora caves, hasseen a surge in farmer suicides.At the heart of the crisis is acyclical drought that haspersisted for almost a decade.Landscapes of Loss tells thestory of Marathwada.

All books available as e-books

BYMANYA

HAPPY

ACCIDENT

MHamidAnsariRupaPp350, `795

Fortuitous or not, By Many aHappy Accident is anaccount of a life of unplannedhappenings that tookM Hamid Ansari away from hispreferred fancy for academiato professional diplomacyand then be co-opted inpublic life and catapulted tothe second highest office inthe land for two consecutiveterms. None of hispredecessors, exceptSarvepalli Radhakrishnan, hadexperienced this honour.

● INTERVIEW:AMISHTRIPATHI & BHAVNAROY

Pune

IVINDER GILL

As head of India's largest hotel chainand chairman of various industrybodies,whatexpectationsdoyouhavefromtheBudget?Umeed pe duniya kayam hai, but

hope is not a strategy.We have madeseveral representations to the govern-ment for relief to the tourism industry.The Budget is an opportunity for thegovernment to do something for sup-porting a sector that is the largestmul-tiplicatorof jobs,especiallyin theunor-ganisedsector.Supportingasectorthatcan help in long-term sustainable GDPgrowth is a good thing to do.The sectorhas historically contributedmore than10% to the global GDP and jobs acrosstheglobe.Also,supporting a sector thatcan help build awareness of a nation isgood.When India's Constitution waswritten, tourism was not a priority.Thereweredifferent issues then.Sevendecades later,the timehas cometogivethe sector the importance it deserves.Othernationstreat tourismasapillarofgrowth and promote their cities likeParis andLondonas tourismmagnets.I look at it under three pillars—pol-

icy, taxation and stimulus. By policy Imeanhowyou treat tourism.Is it infra-structureor is it getting industrystatusin various states? By taxation, the per-ception is that everything is a five star.Today, as we sit at the launch of a newhotel thathasupgradeditsentireneigh-bourhood, it is not a five or even a fourstar.It's anice little jewel in theheart ofthe city. So why should we tax thisindustry the most because the percep-tion is that everyhotel is a five star andmeant for the rich?By stimulus I mean, going forward,

coming from apandemic,oneofthe tasks is howto generatedemand,becausewithoutdemandsustainablegrowth will nothappen.Andthatcancomeinformofsomestimuluswhere we mighttax companiesless so they havemore meetings and incentivise peopleto travel. When they travel, they buytickets, book hotels and spendmoney.WhichmeansmoreGST.Butyouhavetoincentivise themto travel.

You have had new launches in themiddleofapandemicandaftera lock-downwhenbusinesswas zero.Doyousee this as a passing phase that theindustry will overcome, perhapsfueledbyrevenge consumption?It is already happening. Revenge

travel and pent up demand are beingexperienced in resorts. Suffering isreally in thestatecapitals andcapitalofIndia and commercial capital ofMum-bai.Goaisnotsuffering,Rishikeshisnotsuffering, nor is Kashmir or Coorg orKerala. They are all full. People are dri-ving to destinations and even flyingnow that aviation is 60% back to nor-mal.But thecorporateworld isnot trav-elling like itwasbefore.Atacertain levelcorporate demand is starting to comeback. The middle management hasstarted travelling but themagnitude isstill not the same.But at the same time,I believe,yes,this too shall pass.

A qualitative classification by hotelbrands,especiallyrecently,hasveeredtowardmillennials and offerings fortheyoungergenerations.Seleqtionsisa nod to nostalgia.What do you haveto sayabout that?

It isnot supposed tobe like that.It isa collection of some names that arestronger than the brand. Like the Con-naught is the Connaught.The Ambas-sador inKhanMarket isAmbassador.Itdoesn't matter if any other name isaddedto them.Theywillmaintain theiridentity. Like the Blue Diamond inPune, the Savoy in Ooty, etc. The hotel

industry, after experimenting for sev-eral decades, has realised that somehotels have their own identity and it'snot good to club them under somebrand. So Seleqtions is just a platformof sales and distribution created keep-ing the needs of such hotels in mindthat are in every city and state capitaland commercial capital. It includes

some very nice properties that retaintheir individuality instead of a cookie-cutter approach. So this was thethought behind Seleqtions. There is asaying in German which I translate,'Let's not be more Catholic than thePope'.Memories,heritageandbeautyofa place matter. So we are excited tohave created this platform that also

has clarity.Look at CidadedeGoa.Wewerevery

keen on that propertyas it has somuchindividuality.The family that owns theproperty appreciated that. They havetwo sons and the owner told us they

were giving their daughter to us.That'sthe trust in theTataGroup speaking.To launch a new platform in Delhi,

Mumbai , Pune and Goa is always noteasy. But we have had a good start andsomeverybig names.

Do you have any plans for a separatebrand formillennials?I thinkbyvirtueofourparentgroup,

ourvalue proposition is to be an Indianhotel. We are not following other peo-ple in saying this is for millennials.Everyhotel shouldbeable toserveeveryage and every need. We can't say TajMansingh is only for the rich andelderly. The newly-renovated Machanappeals equally to millennials and stillevokes memories. In Taj Palace, whatdoes the Blue Bar not have to appeal toyoungsters? But if you are saying abrand that is for the upcoming profes-sionals,we have Ginger that we haverepositioned to appeal to that group.Youcanplaymusic there,therearecom-munity tables,goodWi-Fi,etc.Theyareverymodernandveryvibrant.Wecall itthe lean lux.It's not cheap,but it's lean.We lead in design, community ser-

vice and growth.We have signed andopenedmore rooms than anyone else,even in themiddle of a pandemic.

What about the use of tech?Will thatbe taken to even further levels?Wedohavethings likeonedevice for

all controls in rooms in our palaces.What Covid has done is drive touchlesstech everywhere.Wehave the I-Zest forthat, a digital platform to drive touch-less operations. Covid has acceleratedchange inall spheresof life totheextentthatnoneofuscould imagine,withdig-

ital being thenumber onewinner in allthat.Even ifyouwere not digi-tally savvy inthe lockdown,eventually youbecame that.These kind ofchanges keepcoming; thepandemic justaccelerated it.And it is anopportunity for

the industry to embrace more digitalandmoretechandbe lessdependentonindividual judgments.

How has the pandemic impededyourplans?Everythingwasatastandstillduring

the lockdown. Progress on hotels wasnot happening.Officeswere shut.Evennow, offices are not fully operationaland things get slowed down. But I amnot complaining because everyonefaced the same situation across theglobe.Wewill catchup,andmaybeopentwohotels amonth instead of one.

What about your hotels in the USandUK?The governments there have other

kind of resources. We are expectingsome relief package.Andwith politicalclarity in theUS,wearenotworried.Wewill comeback even stronger.

Do you think digital is the lastingtakeawayfromthepandemic?Iwouldsaynotdigital,butresilience.

Resilienceofhavingpatience indealingwith the situation and with others.Resilience of managingwithwhateveryou have.One key thing this pandemichas done is show people how little youneed to survive andwhat are the mostimportant things in life.

Edited excerpts

SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2021

FESUNDAY5 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

SOALLTHESEMONTHShavegonebyandmostofushaveforgottenwhatitfeelsliketo complain about the airline's onboardwine programme orhow tovehementlyfighttopaythebillwhenoutwithfriends.In otherwords,oncewe start going outagain andmore regularly, these "skills"may return,but till then, the F&B com-munitywillhavetofindtrulyuniquewaysto entice us enough to return to theirpremises. It's a tough time really. First,they lost business and now the onus ofbringingitbackalsorestsalmostentirelywith them.Well, recentlywhile out for aworking lunch,Iwas regaledwithagoodmanymeasures by the restaurant team,whichmademerealisethattheroadback

maynotbethat longorarduous.Iwas at Comorin so,yes,this is some-

thing of a shameless plug for one of thefinest eateries in the country.It’s theonereason Iwill happily trek toGurugram,adistanceofnearly28kmfrommyplace.Forapersonwhoonlyventuresbeyonda3-kmradius to catch flights or run/cycle a looparoundLutyens'Delhi,thisremainsafeat.But it was one of the places I found

myselftrulycravingduringthelockdown.Sure, there were other addresses with asimilar draw—Americano,The Table,O'Pedro(allinMumbai),Nostalgia(Goa)—buttheyweremostly inothercities.Delhi,forme,inspiteofall itsculinarydiversity,stillhas very fewplaces that serve up a trulyuniqueandworthybrandof fare.OutsideofPandaraRoad,afewchaatandparanthaaddresses,it'sslimpickingsreally.Manyofyouwill enthusiasticallyobject,but howmanyplaces that opened in the last fiveyears stillholdyourattention?Before thiscolumnisover,IwillsharetheothernamesthatIthinkdoalaudablejobinthecapital.

Meanwhile back to Comorin, theystartedmeoffwith tastersof theirhome-made Vermouths and flavoured sodas.Now, these guys were on to this do-at-

home trend long before the lockdownmadechefsandbartendersoutofallofus,cookingandcocktail-ing forsocialmedialike participants on someunannouncedrealityshow.Butthethingisthatnow,sincemost of us know how to fix ourselves abasic Negroni, roll home-made pasta ormakesourdoughcroissants(okay,mostofusminusmeforthat lastone),therestau-rants have to dish out something trulyexceptional and fantastical to keep ushooked and coming back formore.Theyneed to up their wow factor to WillyWonka'sChocolateFactorylevels.UnderVarunSharma,theheadmixolo-

gist,Comorin'sbarprogrammehasevolvedasanintricately-detailedmanifesto.MostdrinkswerethestuffthatIwouldnormallyorder at bars in London and New York,employing local ingredients, but tech-niques(sous-vide,clarification)thatmadethem undeniably novel and almostunrecognisable. There was lemongrasssodaandaroseandbergamotsoda,whichturnedupbottled like regularsoftdrinks,crown cap and all.Now,home-made canmakeforgoodmarketingploy,butthisno-human-touchhermeticsealingisthespe-cific assurance of a contaminant-freeexperience I seek nowwhendining out.Next,the absolutelycolourless (clarified)whiskysourwas oneof those drinks that

youwant to orderagain evenasyoukeepwonderinghowcansomethingsocolour-lessbesoflavourful.Iwasfortunatetosam-pleafewfromtheupcomingmenutoo:trytheMoonrakerwhen there next,mixinglavender andhoneycomb likeyouneverknewyouwantedsobad.Butmindyou,theexperiencewouldn't

havebeencompletewithoutfoodtomatchboth in termsofvarietyand complexity-in-simplicity, something I define aspreparing adish that leadsyou tobelievethatyoucouldmake ityourself andyet,ifyouweretotry,you'dendupnowhereclose.It'sthisfineartoftakinganotherwisecom-monplacedishthat'sdrippingwithmem-ories and then revisiting and reinterpret-ing it in a manner that heightens thecuriositywithoutdetractingfromthenos-talgia of it.TheComorin teamexecutes itflawlesslyeverytimeandthisiswhatIwascravingfrom28kmaway.As promised, other easy-food

joints/deliveries I'd seek out specificallyfor their brand of F&B (in no particularorder): Mahabelly, Burgerama, AsianFarm Shack, Leo's and Nomad Pizza,Noshi,Mood (inDelhi) andMjöl bakery.AllofyouaremyF&Bheroes-please takea bow and keep doing this service to usthroughthese trying times.

Thewriter isa sommelier

The F&B communitywill have to find truly uniqueways to entice us to return

Culinary adventures

BETWEEN

SIPSMagandeepSingh

IT'SATOUGHTIME. FIRST,

RESTAURANTS LOSTBUSINESS&NOWTHEONUSOFBRINGING ITBACKALSORESTSENTIRELYWITH

THEM

LeisureOLDESTHOTELFounded in 705 AD, Nishiyama Onsen

Keiunkan is a hot spring hotel in Hayakawa,

Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. In 2011, the

hotel was recognised by GuinnessWorld

Records as the oldest hotel in the world

SaysBudget is anopportunity for the government to support sector that is largestmultiplicatorof jobs

● INTERVIEW: PUNEETCHHATWAL, MD & CEO, IHCL

‘Time has come to give tourismthe importance it deserves’

The Connaught in NewDelhi (above),IHCL’s newproperty under theSeleqtions portfolio, and (left)Puneet Chhatwalwith Unionministers HarshVardhan, Smriti Iraniand Ravi Shankar Prasadwith actorAnupamKher at the launch of thehotel in NewDelhi on Friday evening

“We lead in

design,

community

service and

growth.We have

signed and

openedmore

rooms than

anyone else, even

in themiddle of

a pandemic”

“Why shouldwe

tax this industry

themost

because the

perception is

that every

hotel is a five

star andmeant

for the rich”

Pune

NELLIE BOWLES

GUSTAVO RAZZETTI, WHOgetshiredbycompanies toimprove their work cul-tures,hasnoticeda change

since the pandemic began last year:morepolitical brawls,moremanagerslosing control of their employees, acuriousmixofhyper-engagementandlackofempathy.“Employeesareturn-ing their cameras off,hiding behindavatars,becomingdisrespectful,”saidRazzetti,whose consultancy is calledFearlessCulture.“They’rebeingaggres-siveamongeachother.”Office conversation at some com-

panies is starting to look as unrulyasconversation on the internet.That’sbecause office conversation now isinternet conversation.Manycompa-nies have been working online fornearly ayear,with plans to continuewell into2021.And just as people arebolderbehind keyboards onTwitter,theyare bolderbehind keyboards onworkplacemessaging platforms likeMicrosoftTeamsandSlack—with allthegoodandall thebad,butwitha lotmorelegal liability.Work culture experts saythere are

steps companies can take before thelawyersget involved.Theseareamongthem: closelymonitoring large chat

groups, listening to complaints,reminding employees theyare on thejobandnotbanteringwithfriends,andbeing aware that amove to a virtualwork force can exposenewissues likeagediscrimination.Atalotofcompanies,thisisthefirst

time colleagues have had to come toterms with working and socialisingalmostentirelyonline.Thereislikelynogoing back.“At the beginning of thepandemic,everyonepattedthemselvesontheirback,like:‘Oh,look,productiv-ityhasnotfallen.We’vetransitionedtodigital. We’ve done things we wereseeking todo—streamlineprocesses,movethingsonline,decentralisedeci-sionmaking.’Buttheywereforgettingabout culture,”said JenniferHoward-Grenville,a professor in organisationstudiesattheUniversityofCambridge.“Nowtherealityofthathashit.”Whenmessageboards,chatrooms

andFacebookbecomework tools,off-colour humour is more common.Aggressive political discussions thatwouldbeout of place amongcubiclesnowseemfine.Thehierarchyofphysi-calspacedisappearswheneveryoneisausername: Confronting seniorman-agementdoesnotrequireawalkandaknockonthedoor,andconfrontingcol-leaguesdoesnotrequiresittingnexttothemtherestoftheday.“I’veseenbullyingbytextinthevar-

iouskindsof internal instantmessen-gerplatforms,andwe’veseenanuptickin those kinds of complaints comingour way,” said John Marshall, anemploymentandcivil rights lawyerinColumbus,Ohio.Harassmentfromcol-leagues in internal messaging plat-forms is not new,he added,but nowthereismoreofit.Thesenewworktoolsweredesignedtolookandfeellikemes-sageboardsandsocialmedia.Workersnotice that and adopt similarbehav-iours,researcherssay.Theperformativenature of Slack,where colleagues fueldiscussions in vast chat rooms byadding emojis, for example, meansfrenzies growandarehard to contain

oncetheystart.“Employees ask themselves,‘Well,

whatdoIknowthat’ssimilartoSlack?’”saidMarkDAgars,a California StateUniversity professor who studiesorganisationalpsychology.“It’s aRed-ditboard.Sowedrawonthosenorms.And those norms are very differentthanprofessionalnorms.”Some employers havehad a strict

responsetopoliticalonlinechatter.Thechief executive of the cryptocurrencycompanyCoinbase—whoseworkershave complainedof disparate pay forwomenandminorities—recentlytoldemployees to stick towork issues inonlinechatsorfindanother job.Someofthemtookhimupontheoffer.Butwork culture experts saythere

isamiddleground.Somoneysaved inoffice space is being spent on hiringcorporate therapists likeRazzetti.Hehasaprotocolforemergencywork-chatsituations. First, he shuts down theproblematic Slack channel. Then hebreakstheteamupforanintervention.Colleagues are asked to reflect alone.Next,theycanmeetwith anothercol-league one onone to share their feel-ings, then in groups of four. Finallythosesmallgroupscanbegintoreinte-grateintoafreshSlackchannel.Someoftheprofessorsandconsul-

tants recommend simple solutions:takingturnstotalkorpostinmeetings,requiringsilenttimetoreadsomethingtogetherduringavideomeetingbeforediscussing,andgivingworkers90sec-onds to vent about politics beforebeginningapolitics-freeworkday.“We have people fighting like

teenagers online at work,”Razzettisaid. “This can be a very seriousthing.”Sotherecommendationfromprofessionals is,basically, to treat allofusas ifwewereteenagerswhohadbeen fighting online. As with any-thing that involvesworkplace com-munication — particularly work-place conversation in text form —there are legal liabilities.There is abig legal difference between a trollwith an opinionwho is an internetstranger and a troll with an opinionwho can contribute to your perfor-mance review. People could sue iftheybelieve theyarebeingharassed.Anyone with an eye toward pre-

venting legal liability knows: Text isdangerous.Thefactthatworkplacedis-cussionnowhappensinonlinechatsisanightmareforlegalteams.“Youneedtobesureyou’renotwrit-

ing—documenting—anythingthat’sgoing to wildly offend people,” saidLeslieCaputo,whosetitleispeoplesci-entist at Humu,whichmakeswork-placeculturesoftware.“Forthemillen-nials,the first age togrowupwith IM,we’re soused tohavingourpredomi-nant interactions this way, it can behard to remember that this is awork-placewithdifferentrules.”

NYT

S T O R I E S A N D T R E N D S F R O M I N D I A A N D A R O U N D T H E W O R L D T H A T C A U G H T O U R F A N C Y

Fe LinesFE SUNDAY6 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

TECH-NOW-LOGY

FE FEATURES

IN 2021, THE FIRST INDIANwillbe carried byourown rocket tospace. The Chandrayaan-3demonstrator mission willattempt a lunar landing again

after theVikram landerof theChan-drayaan-2 mission crashed in July2019. The newmission is slated tolaunch inMarch thisyearandwouldconsist of a lunar rover and a sta-tionary lander approved by theIndian government.K Sivan, the chairman of the

IndianSpaceResearchOrganisation(ISRO), revealed the estimated costfor Chandrayaan-3 to be `6.15 bil-lion (about $91.2 million), a muchlower figure in comparison withChandrayaan-2,whichcost`9.7bil-lion,as pernews reports.Chandrayaan-1,launchedin2008,

was one of the firstmajormissions inthe Indian space programme. Com-prising anorbiterand a surface pene-tratorprobe,itwasoneofthefirstmis-sions to confirm evidence of lunarwater.Chandrayaan-3willtouchdownin the lunarsouthpole’sAitkenbasin,a vital component for future sustain-able lunarhabitation.Theagencyhasalso identified four

astronauts forGaganyaan, the coun-try’s first human space flight set forlaunch in 2021. In 1984, RakeshSharma flew in aRussianmodule,butthistime,theIndianastronautswillflyinan Indianmodule.Sharma,the firstIndiantotraveltospace,waspartoftheSovietUnion's SoyuzT-11expedition,launched inApril 1984 as part of theIntercosmosprogramme.Clearly, 2021 promises to be an

exciting one for spacemissions, andnot just because of India's spaceplans.Thereareothermajorcountriesaswellplanningtheirspacemissionsinthenearfuture.Russia,forone,has

reinvigorateditsLunaprogrammetolaunch the moon mission in 2021with nine instruments onboard,according to news and space discov-erywebsiteSpace.com.Thecountryissetting the stage to put cosmonautsonthemoonunderitsRussianlanderLuna-25, the first Russian craft toreach themoon's surface since itwaspart of theSovietUnion.China's ambitiousTianwen-1mis-

sionwillbethefirstMarsmissionwithan orbiter, landerand rover to explorethe red planet. Tianwen-1, whichblasted into space in July2020,is nowmorethan15millionkmfromearthenroutetheredplanet.South Korea and Japan are also

building lunar landers. South Korea,with its first launch of a lunarorbiterslated for the secondhalf of 2022,hasbeenworking on a lunar orbiter pro-gramme since 2016, Yonhap newsagency reported. The spacecraft isexpectedtoreachthemoonbyDecem-ber2022andconductayear-longmis-sion that could even be extended,accordingtothestate-runKoreaAero-spaceResearchInstitute (KARI).Japan's first moon rover called

Yaoki will take flight aboard therookie mission for United LaunchAlliance's newVulcanCentaur rocketin 2021. The US Artemis project,

which includes the goal of sendingthe firstwoman andnextman to themoon in2024,is themostambitiousmission. Subsequent missions willexplore more of the moon and testthe technologies and proceduresneeded for human exploration ofMars. In this regard, the NationalAeronautics and Space Administra-tion (NASA) is seeking new partnersto help the agency tell the story ofhumanexplorationofthemoonwiththeArtemis programme inways thatengage,exciteand inspireaudiences.Boeing, too,hopes to launch a sec-

ond attempt on March 29 this yearafter addressing the software issuesthatpreventedStarlinerfromreachingitsdestinationthefirst time.Washington-based companyBlue

Originwill send its first orbital rocketaloft in2021.NamedNewGlennafterthe NASA Mercury astronaut JohnGlenn, the rocket can send up to 14tonstogeostationaryorbitand50tonsto lowearthorbit.An ambitious newNASAmission

called Lucy is expected to launch inNovember this year to study eightspacerocksovernearlyadecade.Withboostsfromearth'sgravity,itwillcom-pletea12-yearjourneytoeightdiffer-ent asteroids—a Main Belt asteroidand seven Trojan asteroids. TheswarmsofTrojanasteroidsassociatedwith Jupiter are thought to be rem-nants of the primordialmaterial thatformed theouterplanets.TheTrojansorbitthesunintwoloosegroups,withone group leading ahead of Jupiter initspath,theothertrailingbehind.TheJupiter trojans,commonly calledTro-jan asteroids or simplyTrojans, are alargegroupofasteroidsthatsharetheplanet Jupiter's orbit around the sun.Theseprimitivebodiesholdvitalcluestodeciphering thehistoryof the solarsystem,and perhaps even the originsoforganicmaterialonearth.

The year 2021 promises to be an exciting one for space exploration,as many countries have planned ambitious missions

SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2021

Aspaceodyssey

Pearl HarbourTheAmerican lagoonharbour inHawaii is theUSNaval base.The attackon Pearl Harbour in 1941 by theJapaneseNavy led theUS to declare awaron Japan,making it an immediatecause of theUS’s entry intoWorldWarII.The 2001 romanticwardrama PearlHarbour,based on the event, starsBenAffleck,Kate Beckinsale andothers,and is a fictionalisedversion ofthe attack and its aftermath.The

moviewas nominated for fourAcademyAwards.

PinjarThe 1947partition of India remainsone of themost important events insouthAsian history,wherein lakhs ofmigrating people suffered and lostlives.The 2003period drama Pinjar isbased on theHindu-Muslim issuesduring the time of the partition.StarringManoj Bajpayee andUrmila

Matondkar, it is based on a Punjabinovel of the samenamebyAmritaPritam.Themoviewon theNationalAward forBest Feature FilmonNational Integration. In themovie,ayoungHindu girl Puro is kidnapped byaMuslimmanRashid to avenge afamily feud.

Schindler’s ListThe 1993American historical drama isdirected bySteven Spielberg and is

based on the 1982novel Schindler’sArk byThomasKenneally.Themovie isbased on the life ofOskar Schindler,aGerman industrialistwho iscreditedwith saving lives of 1,200Jews during theHolocaust byemploying them in his factories.Themovie is often listed as one of thegreatest films evermade and receivedinternational acclaim from criticswhen it released.Nominated for12AcademyAwards, itwon seven of them.

Schindler and hiswifewere named‘RighteousAmong theNations’by the Israeli government in 1993,anhonourused by Israel fornon-Jewswho risked their lives to save Jewsduring theHolocaust.

TamasBased onBhishamSahni’s 1974novel,the 1988movie Tamas is based on theplight of familiesmigrating during thetime of the 1947partition.The novelwon the author a SahityaAkademiAward in 1975.Tamas literallymeansdarkness and themovie bringsout the dark realities of the partition.Themovie starsOmPuri,PankajKapur,Amrish Puri,among others.Themovie alsowon theNational FilmAward forBest Feature FilmonNational Integration.

The InvisibleWarThe 2012documentarymovie byKirbyDick talks about sexualassault in theUSmilitary.Themoviewas appreciated by journalists,advocates and lawmakers for bringingthe issue to light and influencinggovernment policies to reduce rape inthe armed forces.The film featuresinterviews of veterans fromvariousbranches of the forces recounting theevents of their assaults.The reports,however, led to convictions of only244perpetrators out of thousands of them.It shows first-person accounts,real footage of survivors documentingthe aftermath and the struggles intheir daily lives.

The year 2020 was adramatic one. Notsurprisingly,manymovies have beenannounced revolvingaround it and thepandemic. The recentAnne Hathaway-starrerLocked Down, forexample, talks aboutthe lockdown days of2020. Here are someother movies thatwere inspired by majorreal-life events.By Reya Mehrotra

TitanicTalkingofmovies inspiredbyrealevents,Titanic topsthelist.Afterstrikinganiceberg,RMSTitanicsunkintheNorthAtlanticOceanin1912.Outofthe2,200peopleonboard,1,500werereporteddead.The1997romanticfilmTitanic,starringKateWinsletandLeonardoDiCaprio,isbasedontheevent.Oneofthemost iconicfilmsinHollywood,Titanichaswonatotalof11AcademyAwards.Inthemovie,theleadpair,belongingtotwodifferentsocialclasses,falls inlove.Thelovestoryentwinedwithhumanlossstronglyconveystheemotional impactofthedisaster.

Uri:TheSurgicalStrikeThe 2019military action film,starringVickyKaushal,was basedon the 2016 surgical strikes.Thestrikeswere carried out againstmilitant launch pads across theLoC in Pakistan-occupiedKashmir.Thiswas in retaliation oftheUri attack of September18,2016,reported as the ‘deadliestattack on the security forces inKashmir in two decades’ inwhich17 armypersonnelwere killed.

TheGatekeepersThe 2012documentary filmnarrates the storyof IsraelSecurityAgencyShin Bet fromthe perspective of its formerheads.The film includes footageand interviews to showthe rolethe agencyhas played in thesecurityof Israel from the 1967war till the present day.The filmwas nominated at the 85thAcademyAwards.

REALTOREEL

Howtokeep internet trollsoutof remoteworkplaces

THECHANDRAYAAN-3DEMONSTRATOR

MISSIONWILLATTEMPTALUNAR LANDINGAGAIN

AFTERTHEVIKRAMLANDEROFCHANDRAYAAN-2CRASHED IN 2019.THENEWMISSION ISSLATEDTOLAUNCH

INMARCH

When companiesmove all employeecommunicationsonline, they face thesame problems asthe rest of theinternet. But theydon’t have to let badbehaviour seep in

Pune

SpotlightSUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2021

FE SUNDAY7 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

PRIVACYACTIVIST

Maximilian Schrems is anAustrian activist and author

whobecame known for campaigns against Facebook

for its privacyviolations, includingviolations of

European privacy laws and the alleged transfer of

personal data to theUSNational SecurityAgency

CO-FOUNDEDBYPARASArorain2014,Doodlageis a Delhi-based eco-fashion label, which sellsthrough both Instagram and Facebook. It has astrong presence online,with around 59,000 fol-lowers on Instagram and 25,000 on Facebook.Talking about how social media platforms helpbusinesses likehis survive,he says,"Thepoweroftechhasmadeiteasiertodobusiness,givinglocalbrandsaccesstoawideraudienceacrosstheglobe.WithadvancedAI,alotofpositiveinnovationsarehappeningacross sectors."Despite the fact that his business relies on

socialmedia, the 32-year-old,however, says nolevel of invasion should be accepted when it

comes todataprivacy."Anyinvasionwithout theconsentof theconsumerisnotokay,"saysArora,adding,"Wewantmore transparency onwho isusing ourdata."Having said that, the benefits of using these

apps are toomany to reconsider dropping facili-tation of businesses through them,he says."Thebenefits are more for the brands than the con-sumers. But in the long term, it is necessary forboth to coexist and make it work for a betterfuture.The more understanding and control auserhas over their data collection andusage, themorewilling they'll be to share and engagewiththosewhoemployit,"saysArora.

ITWASDURING the lockdown lastyear thatBen-galuru-based homemaker and new motherSonam Raje decided to start something of herown. Being a baker, she started selling home-bakedcakes throughsocialmediaplatforms.Luckily for the 32-year-old,Kittu Cakes took

off instantly,ashercakeshadtheappealofbeingsafeand