Growth across Asia has been hit by a slew of weak reports for the third quarter. China’s weaker-than-expected performance was followed up by Japan's growth being hit by

Asian growth faltering, all eyes now on India's performance

Growth across Asia has been hit by a slew of weak reports for the third quarter. China’s weaker-than-expected performance was followed up by Japan's growth being hit by natural disasters. Growth throughout Southeast Asia faltered as well as in South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. All eyes are now on India’s growth numbers , to be reported on Friday. Economists predict there may be a slowdown for us as well. 

With no end in sight for the second wave global rating agencies and brokerages are cutting India's growth outlook for the current year. Moody's has slashed their

With no end in sight for the second wave global rating agencies and brokerages are cutting India's growth outlook for the current year. Moody's&nbsp; has slashed their GDP&nbsp;growth forecast to India to&nbsp;9.3% from 13.5% earlier.&nbsp;
Moody's revision in India estimates follows peer rating agency S&amp;P's action last week. Moody's has warned that the second wave will not only slow the near-term economic recovery but could also weigh on longer-term growth dynamics Japanese brokerage Nomura&nbsp;also cut India's GDP&nbsp;forecast to 10.8% from 12.5% earlier citing slowing business activity due to lockdowns&nbsp;which are now mirroring June 2020 levels.&nbsp;

Online investment platform Groww is acquiring Indiabulls Mutual Fund for Rs 175 cr. Groww is now the first fintech to enter the asset management spa

Online investment platform Groww&nbsp;is acquiring&nbsp;Indiabulls Mutual Fund for Rs 175 cr.&nbsp;Groww&nbsp;is now the first fintech to enter the asset management space after SEBI&nbsp;gave nod&nbsp;allowing digital platforms like fintechs to enter the mutual funds business. Groww started out as a platform for investing in mutual funds, but recently it entered into stock broking as well has investors such as&nbsp;Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital India.

The retail inflation data is due on Wednesday and experts see CPI inflation moderating to 4.1% in April from 5.5% in March. Base effects are significantly favoura

Inflation at 3-month low is set to be the headline as the govt releases Consumer Price Index data on Wednesday for the month of April. Inflation is seen easing down to 4.1% vs the spike of 5.5% in March. But reality is sorely different than the math of inflation.&nbsp;
The pull on the numbers comes from an inflated high base effects from last year when the index shot up due to the unexpected lockdown. Now it will put a 150 basis points downward pressure on headline year-on-year inflation. Food inflation is expected to be lower at around 1.9% as against 4.9% in March, even though on a sequential basis prices of fruits, pulses and meat rose slightly.&nbsp;
However, the recent build-up in input costs, driven by high global commodity prices and supply chain disruptions, remains a major concern.
Meanwhile, WPI inflation, which will be released on Friday,&nbsp;may continue to move higher and is expected to register a reading of around 9.3% as against 7.4% in March amidst higher commodity prices.&nbsp;

Sugar stocks have stolen the spotlight on Dalal Street with sweet returns of over 70% in the last month. Stock prices of Dhampur Sugar Mills, Dwarikesh Sugar

Sugar stocks have stolen the spotlight on Dalal&nbsp;Street with sweet returns of over 70% in the last month. Stock&nbsp;prices of Dhampur Sugar Mills, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries and Triveni Engineering have zoomed in the range of 70-75%, as compared to a 2% return on the benchmark index.&nbsp;
So, why is sugar the flavor of the month?&nbsp; Brazil and Thailand, the two largest sugar exporters in the world, are expected to witness lower production pushing global sugar prices higher ahead of the peak summer demand.&nbsp;Cane supplies are already tight due to a severe drought that&rsquo;s been ravaging yields in Brazil. Cane-crushing dropped 30% in the first half of April . Add to that the demand from the ethanol industry is also keeping prices elevated in the global market. In domestic market prices have moved up from Rs 30/kg to Rs 33-34/kg in the past 4 months and analysts expect prices to rise further from here.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Dalal Street seems to be off synch with the covid crisis raging in the country with the benchmarks gaining over 4% in the last one month. This is in sharp contrast to&n

Dalal Street seems to be off synch with the covid crisis raging in the country with the benchmarks gaining over 4% in the last one month. This is in sharp contrast to&nbsp; the collapse of the market when&nbsp;the infection first hit the country in March 2020.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; Even as domestic investors continue to bet on the long term&nbsp;foreign institutional investors (FIIs)&nbsp;have&nbsp;pulled out $1.29 billion from the&nbsp;Indian stock markets. The FII selling is the highest since the beginning of the pandemic in India. This is in sharp contrast to FIIs pumping in $26.8 billion in equities in six months to March 2021.&nbsp; So&nbsp;what is out of favor with FIIs?&nbsp;Banking and financials saw the highest outflows in April at $ 1.12 billion followed by oil and gas ($466 million) and metals and mining ($ 242 million).&nbsp;&nbsp; FIIs were reallocating their money to defensives and value stocks. The two sectors that continue to see the highest inflow for the last two months are&mdash;FMCG and&nbsp;surprisingly&nbsp;realty. FMCG stocks saw an inflow of $244 million in April and $516 million in the previous month. In April, FIIs put in $213 million and $710 million in the previous month in real estate companies.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

Reports indicate that Walmart backed e-tailer Flipkart is in talks with investors to raise over $1 billion even as it plans a US listing. Economic Time

Reports indicate that Walmart&nbsp;backed e-tailer&nbsp;Flipkart is in talks with investors to raise over $1 billion even as it plans a US listing.&nbsp;
Economic Times reports JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are advisors in the fundraiser that are exploring options with many&nbsp;sovereign wealth funds, technology-focussed financial groups and even pension funds.&nbsp;
As per available data&nbsp;Walmart invested $1.2 billion in Flipkart in July 2020 at a $24.56 billion valuation, experts see this round of fund raising to value Flipkart&nbsp;at $28-30 billion.&nbsp;

Jeff Bezos the world's richest man and founder of ecommerce giant Amazon is also a reviewer on the platform. . A report by Inc Magazine listed the s

Jeff Bezos&nbsp;the world's richest man and founder of ecommerce&nbsp;giant Amazon is also a reviewer on the platform.&nbsp;. A report by Inc Magazine listed the&nbsp;six product reviews&nbsp;written by Amazon boss Jeff Bezos between 2000 and 2006. Amazon spokesperson confirmed to media outlets that it was indeed Jeff Bezos&nbsp;that had written the reviews.&nbsp;
So what are these 6 products that are special enough to get backing from Bezos?
<ul>
<li>DVD of movie &lsquo;Life is Beautiful&rsquo;:&nbsp;The oldest review written by Jeff Bezos is for Academy Award-winning film 'Life is Beautiful. Bezos had posted this review on March 17, 2000.&nbsp; Giving five stars to the Italian film</li>
<li>Canon 18x50 Image Stabilization All-Weather Binoculars got five stars from Bezos,&nbsp;he termed the binoculars the best he has ever used.</li>
<li>&lsquo;The Proving Ground:&nbsp;The Inside Story of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Race&rsquo;, got 5 stars as well from Bezos&nbsp;as he praised this&nbsp;non-fiction book as a must read.&nbsp;</li>
<li>&lsquo;Project Orion':&nbsp;The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship&rsquo;:&nbsp;Reviewing the book about a spaceship propelled by nuclear bomb explosions Bezos&nbsp;gave it full rating, saying&nbsp;we pretty much *have* to read "Project Orion."</li>
<li>Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom&rsquo;: Continuing his trend for book reviews Amazon Chief highly recommended this book and backed it with quotes from Star Trek</li>
<li>Tuscan Dairy Whole Vitamin D Milk: Breaking the book trend in 2006 Bezos&nbsp;wrote a short and rather odd review for the dairy products.&nbsp;I love milk so much that I've been drinking it since the day I was born. I don't think it was Tuscan though".</li>
</ul>

Social distancing and masking are not the only two things you need to fully protect yourself and your family from Covid-19, adding an insurance policy is of equal impor

Social distancing and masking are not the only two things you need to fully protect yourself and your family from Covid-19, adding an insurance policy is of equal importance to financially insulate you from the soaring medical expenses.
Even though your regular insurance may over hospitalisation charge an additional policy may be required to ensure your home care costs are also covered.&nbsp;
Here are the ways in which you can claim a reimbursement for your home-care treatment?
<ul>
<li>Insurance regulator has rolled policy for home care expenses.&nbsp;Corona Kavach Policy (individual and family floater), most insurance companies are now offering it as a top up to your existing or even a fresh insurance investment.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Corona Kavach policy offers coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh. If you have a&nbsp;Corona Kavach&nbsp;policy you can get your bills reimbursed even if you are treated at home.One can buy it for a period of 3.5 months, 6.5 months or 9.5 months and can renew it.&nbsp;</li>
<li>However, while 30 companies offer Corona Kavach policy&nbsp;they do not offer the policy for senior citizens aged above 65.</li>
<li>What Corona Kavach will pay for: Cost tests, doctor consultations, medical bills upto 14 days, active treatment provided by a hospital at home&nbsp;</li>
<li>Be mindful for claims: Doctor&rsquo;s prescription and recommendation of home care is a must, all medical expenses must be backed by proper bills with GST, will not support claims of unauthorised treatment plans.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Even as you explore the Corona Kavach option, one should look over their existing healthplan and speak to the insurer as many are offering an extension in the same to cover most covid costs.&nbsp;

The head of German pharmaceutical company BioNTech said Monday that there is no need to waive patents on coronavirus vaccines because manufacturers will be able to prod

The head of German pharmaceutical company BioNTech said Monday that there is no need to waive patents on coronavirus vaccines because manufacturers will be able to produce enough shots to supply the world over the coming year.
Ugur Sahin, the chief executive of BioNTech, rejected the US-backed proposal to temporarily lift some intellectual property rights for vaccines.
In a call with investors announcing the company's first-quarter net profit of USD 1.37 billion, Sahin said BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer had already delivered vaccines to more than 90 countries and more than doubled its forecast production capacity for the year.

The ride-hailing company, Ola on Monday said it has partnered with donation platform GiveIndia to provide consumers with oxygen concentrators. The service,

Looking to pitch in and help during the raging covid&nbsp;crisis,&nbsp;ride-hailing company, Ola&nbsp;has partnered with donation platform GiveIndia to provide consumers with oxygen concentrators.&nbsp;
The service will be provided for free through the Ola app, and will be rolled out in Bengaluru from this week with an initial set of 500 oxygen concentrators to be scaled up to 10,000 soon.&nbsp;
Consumers request for an oxygen concentrator from the Ola app by providing a few basic details. Once verified a specially trained set of Ola&nbsp;drivers will deliver the concentrator to the patient's&nbsp;doorstep.&nbsp;
Once the patient has gotten better and no longer requires the concentrator, Ola will pick the device back up and return it to GiveIndia to get it ready for the next patient who needs it.
&nbsp;

Data from 15,000 automobile dealers shows that registrations for new cars/personal vehicles has come to skidding halt due to the lockdown. The Federation of Automo

Data from&nbsp;15,000 automobile dealers shows that registrations for new cars/personal vehicles has come to skidding halt due to the lockdown. The Federation of Automobile Dealers Association stated that new vehicle registrations were cut down to just a third in April.&nbsp;
Over 20,000 dealerships, auto retail stores across the country remain shut. That is 75% out of 26,500 outlet and stores that are open are also not seeing footfall. Compared to March when sales and discounts were being given automakers may see a fall of 80% in sales as per auto analysts.&nbsp; Many companies are extending production shutdowns to avoid inventory pile-up.&nbsp;Hero MotoCorp had originally announced the shutdown from April 22 to May 1, which was later extended to May 9. However, with the Covid cases still on the rise, the shutdown has been extended till May 16, 2021.

India's largest cryptocurrency exchange WazirX is facing heat on social media as its users could not place fresh bets due to a payment snag. For the last two-three days

India's largest cryptocurrency exchange WazirX is facing heat on social media as its users could not place fresh bets due to a payment snag. For the last two-three days, multiple users have taken to social media to complain about their deposit service.
WazirX&nbsp;in response said that the delay in accepting funds was due to a network issue at its banking partner's end. It added that the money that was debited from traders' accounts would be credited back ASAP&nbsp;and the funds were safe.&nbsp;
This is not a new issue for users even last&nbsp;week, many&nbsp;users had posted complaints on social media about transaction delays, payment failures and their money getting stuck.&nbsp;To which the company had said&nbsp;its servers were being overwhelmed by traffic caused by the massive demand for Dogecoin. In the past 10 days, the crypto&nbsp;world has seen a sharp surge in demand for Dogecoin&nbsp;and Ethereum.
An upsurge in traffic could also be the potential reason for the glitch.&nbsp;WazirX&nbsp;added one million users during April and is eying to onboard 10 million customers on its platform by the end of the ongoing quarter.
&nbsp;

The global metal mania is continuing as prices of all base metals continue to sky rocket Copper’s already doubled in the past year to more than $10,000 a ton

The global metal mania is continuing as prices of all base metals continue to sky rocket&nbsp;Copper&rsquo;s already doubled in the past year to more than $10,000 a ton and Bank of America expects it to repeat the 100% performance and hit $20,000.&nbsp;&nbsp; The spotlight on Monday&rsquo;s trade is on iron ore as prices as future trade in the global market&nbsp;jumped more than 10% to hit a fresh record high of $226 a ton. It has rallied over 25% in just one week.&nbsp;&nbsp; Aluminum not left far behind is charging up towards its 2018 peak of $2,718&nbsp; In the last 30 trading session as the market headline remained tepid and flat metals stocks have given soaring returns. Here are some of the top gainers-:&nbsp; SAIL - 80%&nbsp; JSW Steel - 63%&nbsp; Tata Steel - 50%&nbsp;&nbsp; NMDC 27%&nbsp; Nalco: 23%&nbsp; And the bets continue on brokerages as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan continue to bet on the space and stocks.&nbsp;

14 listed companies, totaling a value of ₹10.1 lakh crore, that’s the value held in the stock market by the salt to software conglomerate Tata Sons. The

14 listed companies,&nbsp;totaling&nbsp;a value of ₹10.1 lakh crore, that&rsquo;s the value held in the stock market by the salt to software conglomerate Tata Sons. The massive rally in Tata Steel due to the global metal&nbsp;supercycle, supported by Tata Motors and Power as well has supported the&nbsp;upmove&nbsp;largely given by the heavyweight TCS. Overall&nbsp;the value of Tata Sons&rsquo; holdings is up a whopping 86% in just one year.&nbsp;

Mukesh Ambani climbs the retail king ladder as well Mukesh Ambani promoted Reliance Retail has been ranked the second-fastest growing retailer in

Mukesh Ambani&nbsp;promoted Reliance Retail has been ranked the second-fastest growing retailer in the world in the 2021 ranking of global retail power houses by Deloitte.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Reliance Retail is India&rsquo;s only entry in the 250 ranks but was pipped for the pole post by South Korea&rsquo;s largest online retailer Coupang.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; In the overall ranking Reliance Retail has been ranked 53rdin the list of Global Powers of Retailing, improving from 56th earlier.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; The list is topped by US giant Walmart, which retains its position as world's top retailer. Amazon.com improved its position to rank second, while Costco slipped to third in the rankings&nbsp;&nbsp;

After a short weekend weekend breather, consumers got a jolt of another steep hike in fuel prices. Petrol Price were hiked by up to 26 Paise; Diesel by up to 35 Pa

After a short weekend breather, consumers got a jolt of another steep hike in fuel prices.&nbsp;Petrol prices were hiked by up to 26 Paise; Diesel by up to 35 Paise on Monday.&nbsp; Petrol is priced at an all-time high of Rs 98.86 per litre in Mumbai. In Delhi, petrol is available at Rs 91.53 per litre. In Chennai, a litre of petrol will cost Rs 93.38. Petrol is being sold at Rs 91.66 per litre in Kolkata. Petrol prices have now been hiked by 1 rupee and 14 paise&nbsp;over the last one week. Experts see further price hikes as crude continues to climb.&nbsp;Global prices inched towards $70/bbl mark after a major cyber attack that forced the shutdown of critical fuel supply pipelines in the United States

Keeping to his word on Twitter on April 1, Elon Musk promoted SpaceX will accept Dogecoin as payment for the DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon which will be launched betw

Keeping to his word on Twitter on April 1, Elon Musk promoted SpaceX will accept Dogecoin as payment&nbsp;for the DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon which will be launched between Jan-March of 2022.
SpaceX vice president was quoted as saying &ldquo;We&rsquo;re excited to launch DOGE-1 to the Moon!&rdquo;
DOGE-1 will fly a&nbsp;40-kilogram&nbsp;cube satellite as a payload on a Falcon 9 rocket to obtain lunar-spatial intelligence from sensors and cameras.
Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency&nbsp;which was created as a joke, has given 26,000% returns&nbsp;in the past six months. However, the value of the crypto&nbsp;fell as much as a third on Sunday when the 'Dogefather' called it a hustle on SNL.

In a response to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking exemption from GST on Covid related dru

In a response to&nbsp;West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking exemption from GST&nbsp;on&nbsp;Covid&nbsp;related drugs and vaccines,&nbsp;Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman&nbsp;has said that&nbsp;GST exemption would make these items costlier. The FM tweet that a&nbsp;5 per cent GST rate ensures that the manufacturer is able to utilise ITC and in case of overflow of ITC, claim refund. Hence exemption to vaccines from GST would be counterproductive without benefiting the consumer. 
Currently, domestic supplies and commercial imports of vaccines attract a 5 per cent Goods and Services Tax, while it is 12 per cent in case of Covid drugs and oxygen concentrators.&nbsp;&nbsp;

According to a study by the Pew Research Centre, an estimated 75 million people have slipped into poverty in India since the pandemic began. A study by Azim Premji Univ

According to a study by the Pew Research Centre, an estimated 75 million people have slipped into poverty in India since the pandemic began last year. A study by Azim Premji University paints a much more grim picture- 230 million fell below the national daily minimum wage of 375 rupees since the covid outbreak in 2020.&nbsp; According to data from Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the rate of joblessness rose to nearly 8% in April 2021 from 6.5% in March with an exodus of more than 7 million people from the workforce.&nbsp;The informal sector, which employs approximately 411 million workers, has suffered the brunt of the restrictions and curbs. The pandemic-induced lockdowns have shrunk the incomes and exhausted the savings.&nbsp;The depleting household savings and falling incomes will affect domestic consumption, which accounts for almost 60% of the GDP, economists have warned.&nbsp; According to the government statistics, the GDP shrank 8% in the last year, the biggest contraction since 1952. Economists have slashed their forecasts for the current fiscal year. Although India could still emerge as one of the fastest growing economies, according to the NGO Oxfam, it will also be one of the most unequal country.&nbsp;

Cadila Healthcare Ltd. plans to submit trial data for its Covid-19 vaccine by end of May and is looking for an approval in June, Financial Express r

Cadila&nbsp;Healthcare&nbsp;Ltd.&nbsp;plans to submit trial data for its Covid-19 vaccine by end of May and is looking for an approval in June, Financial Express&nbsp;reported&nbsp;citing Sharvil Patel, managing director of Cadila.
The Phase-III clinical trials of the ZyCoV-D vaccine will be representative of its efficacy against many known variants as different ones have surfaced in this wave, Patel told Financial Express.&nbsp;
Cadila Healthcare&nbsp;started producing its potential Covid-19&nbsp;vaccine last month for which it will seek emergency use authorisation in May or June, with an aim to make up to 240 million doses a year.

Asian growth faltering, all eyes now on India's performance

Business

GDP targets slashed, big cuts from Moody's and Nomura

Startup Groww moves into the MF biz, buys unit from Indiabulls

Inflation set to ease, but is it just optics?

Stock Alert! Investors find a sweet spot in the market, get 70% return in one month

FII's pull out $1 billion from stocks, where is the smart money moving?

Flipkart shops for investors, looking to raise $1 billion ahead of US listing

Backed by Bezos: Amazon products that have a review written by Jeff Bezos himself!

How to ensure your covid home care is insured

Vaccine maker BioNTech says no need to waive patents

Covid-19: Ola announces doorstep delivery of free oxygen

Dead end for Auto, Companies extend shutdown as sales slide

Cryptocurrency traders annoyed with India's largest exchange WazirX

The metal mania, copper doubles, iron ore soars

₹10 lakh crore: The worth of listed holdings of Tata Sons

Mukesh Ambani climbs the retail king ladder as well

Petrol, Diesel prices see steep hike, 100 mark crossed, bets rise on further hikes

Musk truly 'the Dogefather' as SpaceX accepts Dogecoin as payment

Move will make them costlier: FM rules out GST waiver on Covid vaccines

Shrinking incomes, depleting savings: millions plunged into poverty in India due to Covid

India’s Cadila Healthcare eyes approval for Covid-19 vaccine by June

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