Sabarimala row: Shah warns Kerala govt over implementation of SC order

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Saturday “warned” Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front government in Kerala against implementing the Supreme Court order on allowing entry of women into Sabarimala temple.
On a visit to Kannur in Kerala, Shah said there were several Supreme Court judgments that have not been implemented, including Jallikattu, restriction of height for dahi-handi during Janmashthami and mosques to remove loudspeakers.
The BJP chief accused the LDF government of unfairly arresting 2,000 party workers, and warned the government of more protests on the Sabarimala issue and against its interference in religious traditions of the people. Shah claimed there were several temples in the country where only women are allowed entry.
Shah said an “emergency-like” situation prevailed in Kerala with the state government “playing with fire” in quelling with “brutal force” protests by Ayyappa devotees over Sabarimala issue. He said the government was “conspiring against temples”.
Shah warned Vijayan that he would have to pay a “heavy price” if this continued, as BJP workers “would not hesitate to pull down the government”. The BJP was planning to launch agitations from October 30-November 12 to protect the rituals and traditions of the hill shrine, he said.

ALSO READ: Sabarimala row: BJP workers stage protests against SC order, arrested
In a statement, Vijayan said: “Amit Shah, who threatened to oust the LDF government, must remember that this government did not come to power at the mercy of the BJP but with the support of the people of this state.”
“It must also be noted that the BJP leader dared to threaten a democratically elected government because of it stood by Supreme Court verdict and its commitment to protect fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution,” Vijayan said. “Shah’s statement also reveals the true colour of RSS and Sangh Parivar.”
The Kerala CM said Shah’s speech gives the message that the “electoral verdict will be sabotaged. All democratic-minded people should raise their voice against this”. The BJP chief’s argument that gender equality must not be implemented through temple entry laws is a precursor to the arguments that caste based discrimination must not be abolished by law, Vijayan said. “His ramblings also reveal their indebtedness to the obsolete views of gender equality propounded by Manusmriti,” he said.
ALSO READ: Sabarimala violence: 2061 people arrested, cases registered against 452
“Civil society, which upholds fundamental rights including gender equality, must rise against these uncivilised ideologies,” Vijayan added.
The state witnessed massive protests from devotees at various places, including Sabarimala, Nilakkal and Pamba, against the Supreme Court order permitting women of all ages to enter the shrine when it was opened for monthly poojas from October 17-22.
State Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said Shah is threatening to oust the Kerala government. “Try to win a few seats in the assembly. Your frustration is understandable,” Isaac tweeted.

Food and beverages drive revenues for multiplexes; PVR posts 25% growth

The movie exhibition business is still largely dependent on the kind of films released every Friday, but multiplexes are tweaking their strategy to derive more from consumers. Exhibitors are pushing filmgoers to have more food and beverages on their premises at a time when the chorus of people in favour of outside food into cinema halls is growing.
In July-September, growth of food and beverages (F&B) revenue for PVR and Inox Leisure was the highest in nine quarters at 25 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively.
The country’s top two multiplex companies are increasingly shifting their attention to ancillary segments to shore up revenues, cutting prices of F&B items in the process. The trend, say experts, is expected to stay in the coming quarters as operators see merit in this strategy.
As things stand, multiplexes derive most of their revenues from three sources -- box office collections, F&B, and advertisements. These account for 92-93 per cent of the revenue, with box office collections contributing the lion's share.
ALSO READ: The food issue in multiplexes
In the second quarter, however, the contribution of box office collections to the net revenue for Inox and PVR was down to 55 per cent from 60-62 per cent earlier. The F&B revenue share, on the other hand, was a fourth of the net revenue from a fifth earlier, while the advertising revenue share remained largely steady at 10 per cent. The balance 10 per cent of the net revenue came from other operating income, which increased by 2-3 per cent in Q2 compared to 7-8 per cent earlier.
Analysts say the shift towards F&B was inevitable since the dependence on box office collections alone was a risky bet.
“Though the content line-up will be important for multiplexes because that will ensure footfall into movie halls, operators now are looking at what they can do in addition to getting viewers to watch films. Once footfall is there, multiplexes are in a position to entice people with interesting offers and discounts on food & beverages, improving F&B growth,” said Karan Taurani, vice-president, research, Dolat Capital.

chart
In Q2, the footfall for Inox grew 7.2 per cent year-on-year, while the spend per head increased 12.3 per cent over the year-ago period. PVR saw the footfall grow 16.7 per cent year-on-year, though the spend per head declined 3 per cent over the year-ago period. Analysts expect this number to improve for PVR in the coming quarters as the thrust on ancillary revenue grows.
Some analysts believe the recent controversy around outside food being allowed into movie halls was the tipping point for multiplex operators to slash F&B prices.
ALSO READ: Fight for affordable food in Maharashtra multiplexes - more to come?
In the last few months, states such as Maharashtra, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh were looking to allow outside food into cinema halls, following charges that multiplex operators were retailing products at steep prices. While multiplex companies have obtained a stay on this for now by petitioning the Supreme Court, the issue is far from over.
“The matter was a wake-up call for companies operating in the space," said Abneesh Roy, senior vice-president, research, institutional equities, Edelweiss. "What we saw in Q2 was that multiplexes were offering more discounts and offers on food and beverages to lure consumers to spend more on these products. This has resulted in growth being high from this segment for these companies,” he said.
Growth from box office collections in Q2 was 17.4 per cent for PVR and 11.2 per cent for Inox. Advertising revenue growth, meanwhile, was 13.2 per cent for PVR and 17.7 per cent for Inox.

Govt-regulator consultation the way to go, says FM Arun Jaitley

A day after Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Viral Acharya cautioned that the governments that did not respect their central bank's independence would incur the wrath of financial markets, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said regulators must have a wide range of high-quality consultations with all stakeholders.
“I think, for any regulatory mechanism, stakeholder consultation has to be of a very high quality, which will probably lead to a revisiting of traditional thoughts and opinions. And that’s why, (when) several regulators now publish their approach papers or tentative drafts, they hold hearings, meet individuals, meet groups of stakeholders together and improve upon what’s being said,” Jaitley said at an event organised by IDFC Bank here on Saturday to celebrate its third anniversary.
He, however, made no direct or indirect reference to the RBI deputy governor's speech and his observations were in response to specific questions posed by Rajiv Lall, founder managing director and CEO of IDFC Bank.
ALSO READ: NBFC woes will weigh on indices
Jaitley said it was with constant consultations between various governments, regulators and stakeholders that India evolved as an economy, and decisions were taken on whether any regulation needed to be relaxed or altered depending on the ground situation. “Governments have to make themselves accessible to stakeholders. They can’t be indifferent,” he said.
Delivering the AD Shroff Memorial Lecture in Mumbai on Friday, Acharya made a strong case for granting more independence to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Acharya said the central bank must have more powers to supervise public sector banks and keep its balance sheet strong, and have adequate regulatory scope. This independence, he said, was necessary to secure greater financial and macroeconomic stability.
At the IDFC event on Saturday, when asked by Lall, Jaitley said elected governments were accountable not only to voters and the media but also to stakeholders and regulators.

ALSO READ: An evolving economy needs dynamic regulation, says Arun Jaitley
“With frequent elections you are accountable to the people. You are also accountable to various stakeholders because you have to listen to them and react accordingly. And that is actually a very useful interaction which emerges out of these accountability norms,” he said.
“It makes you wiser, it takes you beyond the domain of traditional theories, dogmatic opinions or even what is stated in a file or in an expert paper. It gives you the empirical evidence of what’s going on. So if you were to meet the bankers, the businesses, the others who are in that business of dealing with finance, money or currency, the empirical evidence is inherently more sound,” Jaitley said.
The latest flashpoint between the finance ministry and the RBI occurred on the back of a liquidity crisis in non-banking financial companies, even as state-owned banks grapple with over Rs 10 trillion worth of toxic assets.
ALSO READ: Ensure there are no defaults by NBFCs, Arun Jaitley tells top PSBs
The finance minister on Friday instructed heads of top public sector banks (PSBs) to ensure there was no further spread of the liquidity contagion in the NBFC sector. The RBI has repeatedly asked for more control over state-owned banks, including decisions regarding their top management positions.
‘Nation higher than any institution or govt’
Earlier in the day, delivering the first Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial lecture, Jaitley referred to the ongoing fiasco in the Central Bureau of Investigation.
He asked whether non-accountability of institutions could be a ground for investigative adventurism and masking corruption.
ALSO READ: Country is higher than any institution or the government: Arun Jaitley
“The nation that is India, is higher than any institution or government. Can non-accountability be a mask for corruption? Can it be a ground for investigative adventurism, or can it, as in case of other non-accountable institution, be a ground for inaction? What does the nation do? It is a major challenge,” Jaitley said.
The Supreme Court has had to intervene in the infighting between CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana, with both sent on forced leave by the government. Opposition parties led by the Congress made this a political issue, saying that Verma was removed to prevent him from investigating the Dassault Rafale fighter jet deal.

How no-cost EMIs are dramatically changing e-commerce landscape

No-cost equated monthly instalments (EMIs) offered to consumers by credit card companies and NBFCs are dramatically changing the e-commerce landscape.
As much as 20 per cent of the gross merchandise value (GMV) of sales made on e-commerce platforms is being financed through the no-cost EMI route. Just two years ago, the share of such sales was 4 to 5 per cent, according to estimates by finance and e-commerce companies that Business Standard spoke to.
E-commerce major Amazon.com said that during its big sale that concluded this month, as much as three of the four EMIs taken by consumers were no-cost EMIs.
The company said that for products of over Rs 20,000, at least one in every three transactions was through a financing scheme.
Vikas Bansal, director, Amazon Pay, said, “No-cost EMIs will help expand the reach of financing to more customers, especially in smaller towns and cities. Today, of the more than 100 million active customers, only 30 million get financing options. We want to reach all of them and one way to do it is through the no-cost EMI route. This will surely help in growing the market.”
ALSO READ: Amazon launches EMI option without credit, debit card through 'Pay'
Under this EMI facility, consumers are given an upfront discount equivalent to the interest that they have to pay. The discount cost is borne by the manufacturer or seller or both. These EMIs are being offered by independent credit card companies as well as banks, NBFCs and even Amazon —through its wallet, Amazon Pay.
Earlier, credit card companies offered the same deal but would charge an interest, which consumers did not find attractive. The change was started last year by some credit card players but has now caught on as it has attracted customers.
Bajaj Finserv, one of the largest players in e -commerce finance, said it had a 30 per cent share of the market. Its average size of no-cost finance EMI is Rs 16,500. On average, it offers 160,000 to 170,000 loans a month. Consumers usually take EMIs for products that have a high value, like mobile phones, electronics items and high-end appliances. Most companies offer no-cost EMIs only if consumers buy products worth over Rs 3,000.
For instance, e-commerce companies say that during the big discount sales, fashion, as a category, provides the highest volumes but in terms of value mobile phones reign supreme.
Arvind Singhal, chairman of Technopak, a consultancy firm in the retail space, said, “This is going to be a growing trend and we see that categories like consumer electronics and durables followed by furniture are big-ticket items, which will be financed through these no-cost EMI schemes.” Singhal said manufacturers and sellers who are online are moving away to some extent from heavy discounts by offering consumers EMIs at no cost for high value items.

ALSO READ: Unsecured loans are costly; limit the EMIs to 10-15% of your salary
E-commerce players, however, said most sellers and manufacturers are cutting down on their promotion and marketing budgets (like advertisements) and are preferring to pass that on to consumers through no-cost finance.
They are not trimming their discounts as they want the market to grow. They point out that the no-cost EMI essentially means that many customers who were postponing their buying have now come into the market because of a financing option.
Logging gains
100 million online customers in India; only 30 million have access to finance
55-60 million transactions on e-commerce platforms in a month
20 per cent share of gross merchandising value (GMV) being financed through no-cost EMIs; the figure was 4-5 per cent two years ago
40 per cent GMV mobile phones account for
Amazon says one in every three transactions for products worth over Rs 20,000 is through a financing scheme

Death benefit upped to 7x under Irdai draft norms for regular life products

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) in a late notification on Friday evening notified new draft product guidelines for linked and non-linked life insurance policies. One of the significant changes brought under these draft guidelines includes increasing the minimum death benefit to seven times for regular premium products and to 1.25 times for single premium products for all ages.
"There were significant changes in the trends in product structures driven by the customers’ needs, wants and preferences...Apart from this, innovations in the methods of placing the products in the market, coupled with innovations in product benefits and structures is the main driving force which necessitated review of the existing product regulations," the notification states.

The move, Irdai says that is prompted also by the fact that for the past few years industry executives had provided various suggestions to improvements in current product regulations, so as to be line the dynamics of today's insurance market environment, which invariably includes global insurance market dynamics.
Other changes that include: for pension products customers must be allowed to commutate upto 60 per cent of the policy sum assured, while those with market-linked pension products can partially withdraw their corpus.
Unit-linked insurance product (ULIP) holders will be allowed to switch their asset allocation(s) during the settlement period, "to manage their funds better in a volatile market situation," Irdai says.
Insurers will not be allowed to design individual term, group term and credit and micro insurance products across a range of policy terms, while in the case of group products the regulator will modify some guidelines so that they can be customer based on the customers (company or corporate) requirements.
Further, the category of Variable Insurance Products has been removed while the provisions for non-linked Variable products have been simplified.
The regulator says that they have also introduced new criteria governing the appointment of independent actuary(s) by life insurance companies.
Companies can file send their comments and suggestions on the draft regulations for linked and non-linked products, respectively, by November 15.

Microsoft hits $823 bn mcap, overtakes Amazon as 2nd most valuable US firm

Microsoft Corp regained its spot as the second most valuable US company on Friday after a disappointing quarterly report from Amazon.com wiped $65 billion off the online retailer's market capitalisation.
Apple Inc tops the list at over $1 trillion after crossing that threshold in September. Microsoft's market capitalisation was Wall Street's highest in late 1998 through early 2000 before the dot-com bubble burst.
Amazon's shares dropped 7 per cent, the most in nearly three years after its holiday season sales outlook missed targets, fanning concerns that Wall Street's tech darlings are finally starting to face stronger competition.

Microsoft fell a more modest 1.1 per cent in a broad technology sell-off that was also driven by a weaker-than-expected report from Google-parent Alphabet Inc, leaving the Nasdaq composite index down 1.9 per cent late Friday afternoon.
Shares of Microsoft remain up nearly 4 per cent from Wednesday, when the four-decade-old software company beat quarterly profit expectations, driven by its cloud computing business that competes with Amazon's.
Its stock market value on Friday stood at $823 billion, on track to close above Amazon's for the first time since April, when it gave up its spot as the second largest company by market capitalization.
Amazon was worth $805 billion on Friday, after falling below Microsoft's in extended trade on Thursday. The drop was equivalent to the combined values of Target Corp and Corning Inc.
Amazon's tumble left it up around 40 per cent year to date, while Microsoft has gained about 25 per cent in 2018. On Wednesday, Amazon's stock traded at the equivalent of 70 times expected earnings, its lowest level since 2011.
The average analyst price target for Microsoft puts its market cap at $963 billion, while the average price target for Amazon values it at $1.068 trillion.
Apple will report quarterly results on November 1.

ICAI issues suo motu notices to statutory auditors of Amrapali Group

Chartered accountants' apex body ICAI has issued notices to auditors of Amrapali Group, days after the Supreme Court said the realty player diverted money collected from home buyers to other firms.
Based on reports and various interim orders passed by the court, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) Friday said it has issued suo motu notices to the statutory auditors of Amrapali Group for the period 2008-2015 and also for the latter period.

"The ICAI would be vigorously investigating the matter and take all necessary steps for ensuring that any misconduct by the errant auditors are enquired into in a fast-track mode...," it said in a release.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court said Amrapali Group of companies has played a "big fraud" by diverting money collected from home buyers to other firms and the "big racket" behind this has to be unearthed.
Citing the interim reports of the forensic auditors appointed by the apex court, "it is coming out that there have been huge diversion of funds of the home buyers investing in housing projects of Amprapali Group", the release said.
The news reports also indicate that there were serious irregularities in the conduct of the statutory auditors of the Amrapali Group companies which have reportedly been pointed out by the forensic auditors in their report to the court, it added.