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Amazon India Announces Small Business Days 2021 To Help Small Sellers To Bounce Back!

Amazon India Announces Small Business Days 2021 To Help Small Sellers To Bounce Back
Amazon India Announces Small Business Days 2021 To Help Small Sellers

In a bid to aid small sellers to bounce back from the financial losses that were induced by the pandemic second wave of COVID-19, Amazon India announced that the company host Amazon Small Business Days (SBD) that will begin from midnight on July 2, 2021, until 11:59 pm on July 4, 2021.

“As India tries to get back on track post the impact of the COVID-19 second wave, we are prioritizing our efforts to help small businesses bounce back from the economic disruption. Towards this, we are hosting Amazon Small Business Days, to help generate customer demand for offerings from small sellers on the Amazon India marketplace thus helping them to get their business back on track,” said Pranav Bhasin, Director, MSME & Selling Partner Experience, Amazon India.

During the three-day sale event, customers will have the opportunity to discover and purchase as well as enjoy deals and offer on products across categories including monsoon essentials, immunity boosters, regional handicrafts, at-home fitness supplies, etc. among many more from the special themed stores on the marketplace.

Whether customers are looking to purchase Work from Home essentials, comfort food or heritage handloom weaves straight from regional weavers, Small Business Days will have the widest selection on offer for everyone. Customers can save more with a cashback offer of up to 10% powered by A-pay and on other forms of digital payments for purchases made from participating small businesses.

Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways; Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India, said, “MSMEs are the backbone of our economy, contributing to nearly 30% of the country’s GDP and half of its exports. Around 6 crore MSME units across the country employ over 11 crore persons.”

“MSMEs contribute significantly to the socio-economic growth of the country by fostering entrepreneurship and generating large employment opportunities. I believe that technology will play a key role in the success of MSMEs, and in increasing the contribution of MSMEs’ share to the country’s GDP. It is important to accelerate the growth of MSMEs especially after the disruptions caused by COVID-19 and I congratulate Amazon for hosting Small Business Day to help generate customer demand for their products and revive livelihoods of lakhs of MSMEs in the country”, he added.

“Customers will be able to discover thousands of unique products from local shops, women entrepreneurs, start-ups, emerging brands, artisans, and weavers, at a great value, making their shopping experience enjoyable,” added Pranav Bhasin.

Small Business Days 2021 is a sale event part of Amazon India’s efforts to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sellers. Over the past few months, with the onset of the second wave of the pandemic in India, Amazon has taken a host of measures to help sellers including a variety of fee waivers, relaxation of policies on reimbursements and performance metrics, and more.

Amazon is also providing vaccination support to its sellers and their dependents. In addition, Amazon has also enabled an ‘on-demand disbursement’ feature that enables sellers to get their disbursements daily to help sellers navigate the economic challenges during these challenging times.

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E-Commerce News

The Central Government Proposes Stricter E-commerce Norms To Tackle Unfair Trade Practices!

Love flash sales on e-commerce platforms? Well, it will soon be history! The Central Government has decided to revise the Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020 in the country to prevent unfair trade practices in e-commerce.

The revised e-commerce regulation will come into effect from July 23, 2021, according to which no e-commerce platform will be allowed to display any promotion of misleading advertisements, whether in the course of business on its platform or otherwise.

The Government has taken this step after receiving several complaints from aggrieved consumers, traders, and associations against unfair trade practices and widespread cheating being observed in the e-commerce ecosystem.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution stated that the frequent occurrence of such unfortunate incidents has affected the consumer and business sentiment in the market. It has caused immense distress and anguish to many people. It was observed that there was an evident lack of regulatory oversight in e-commerce which required some urgent action.

The fast-growing e-commerce platforms have also brought the unfair trade practices of the market in which the various e-commerce entities are engaged under the radar. These platforms manipulate the search results to promote certain products, sellers, preferential treatment to some sellers, indirectly operating the sellers on their platform, selling goods that are close to expiration, influencing the free choice of consumers, etc.

Though conventional flash sales by third-party sellers are not banned on the platform, certain e-commerce entities are encouraging limited consumer choice by indulging in “back to back” or “flash” sales.

To prevent the exploitation of consumers, protect their interests, and encourage free and fair competition in the market, the Central Government is proposing a revised Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020 with certain amendments.

Many e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra among others will have to appoint a Chief Compliance Officer, a Resident Grievance Officer, and a nodal contact person in India.

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal termed the new draft as a “guiding stone to purify e-commerce landscape of the country which has been greatly vitiated by various e-commerce global companies to the extent that not only the domestic trade has been damaged but even the consumers are also feeling the heat of their unethical business practices”.

The proposed amendments aim to bring transparency in the e-commerce platforms and further strengthen the regulatory regime to curb the prevalent unfair trade practices.

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For Global Economy Industry, Governments And Civil Society Must Work As A Coalition: Mukesh Ambani

For Global Economy Industry, Governments And Civil Society Must Work As A Coalition: Mukesh Ambani
For Global Economy Industry, Governments And Civil Society Must Work As A Coalition

While addressing the Qatar Economic Forum, the Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Mukesh Ambani stated that for the global economy industry, governments, and civil society must work as a coalition.

He also spoke about the major challenges for the industry as the world trying to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mukesh Ambani further added, “Well, I think that one of the challenges is to make sure that we get rid of the vaccination divide. The bulk of the developed world must be vaccinated by the end of the year. I think we in India have taken a lot many steps, and we expect that by the end of this year or by the first quarter of next year, we will do very well. We have to make sure that we
are in this all together”.

“The second challenge for all of us, particularly in the more developed countries, is to make sure that we bring back the economies, which have not had the benefit of stimulus, which have not had the benefit of government money, by really supporting the whole global economy to come back and grow,” Ambani said.

“We must be able to grow the whole world sustainably and not only bring back the developed economies. And towards that all of us — the industry, governments, and civil society — will have to work as a coalition, not only for our own company, not only for our own country but for the global economy,” Ambani added.

Upon asked how business has changed post the pandemic, he said “I think that trade along with purpose and compassion is the way forward. And that is going to get all of us, as humanity, together to integrate and make sure that collectively we can deal with global problems as one, and help each other moving forward. To my mind, this for the global economy is a fork in the road, and gives us an opportunity that together we can achieve a lot more.”

On digitalization, Ambani said that connectivity and communication have become necessities like food, clothing, and shelter, and fundamental rights of humankind.

“We never realized this as acutely as we did in the corona pandemic. Even in India, our Prime Minister had given a call for Digital India, and I was privileged, with our digital services company called Jio, to roll out a 4G network. We were lucky that we rolled out the network across the length and breadth of India by 2018. We have always wondered what we could have done without a 4G network across India in facing the corona crisis.

“So yes, the digital infrastructure was very useful in work from home, in vaccinating all our people, in making sure that our children learn at home and learn online. And I think that this trend of digital-physical will be the new normal and in the future, we will deliver most of our health and education services in a digital-physical sense,” Ambani said.

On sustainability in business, he said that as a society or as a business, it is imperative to adopt the sustainable business model. Embracing the model of clean energy is essential for growth, and to ensure that Reliance Industries have adopted the change whole-heartedly and is trying to transform each of our businesses to be sustainable, circular, recyclable, and fully transparent with the environment, social, and governance standards.

I think that is a prerequisite for every business to survive as we go forward. It will mean transforming our businesses and integrating them with the future”, he further added.

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4 Lac Charging Stations For 2 mn EVs Are Required In India By 2026: Report

4 Lac Charging Stations For 2 mn EVs Are Required In India By 2026
4 Lac Charging Stations For 2 mn EVs Are Required In India By 2026

As the Indian government plans for a mass scale shift to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030 for both personal and commercial vehicles, the ambitious plan presents challenges along with opportunities.

According to a Grant Thornton Bharat-FICCI report, ‘the country will require 4 lakh charging stations for more than 20 lakh EVs in the country by 2026.’

‘To achieve 100% EVs by 2030, several sectors will have to play a significant role, which includes lower technology cost, higher pollution level, and a complete government support’, the report also added.

The study also claims that the EV ecosystem is tightly interlinked with the electric vehicles and charging stations, further coupled with battery technologies and electricity markets. It also suggested the active participation of electric distribution companies in the deployment and classification of charging infrastructure to empower Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE).

To bring down the EV costs, the study recommended simplifying the designs and partnerships during this gradual transit of the country towards electric mobility.

There are around 1,800 charging stations in India catering to approximately 16,200 electric cars, which also includes the fleet segment, as of March 2021. However, these numbers are way too less than the country will require achieving its target of 100% EVs by 2030, claims SMEV.

The global sales of zero-emission BEVs in 2020 have increased by 39% to 3.1 million units as compared to 2019. EV manufacturers across the globe have spent a huge amount of funds to improve the efficacy and availability of EV charging stations. As a result, the fastest charging station takes no more than 15 minutes to recharge an electric vehicle.

The total passenger car market has been declined by 14% and the new customers who are planning to buy a new vehicle are giving preference to EVs for a healthy and clean environment.

Also read this: ICRA: International Prices Are Expected To Aid Indian Steelmakers Tide Over The Second Covid-19 Wave

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ICRA: International Prices Are Expected To Aid Indian Steelmakers Tide Over The Second Covid-19 Wave

ICRA: International Prices Are Expected To Aid Indian Steelmakers Tide Over The Second Covid-19 Wave
ICRA: International Prices Are Expected To Aid Indian Steelmakers Tide Over The Second Covid-19 Wave

With the gradual lifting of lockdowns, ease in mobility guidelines, and improving vaccination coverage provided by the Indian government, the ICRA is expecting the domestic demand in steel to gain momentum in June and the coming months in 2021.

Also, the supportive international prices are expected to help domestic steelmakers come out of the second Covid wave that has wreaked havoc on the industry. This trend is expected to help recover and result in a pick-up in capacity utilization levels.

‘The COVID-19 induced pandemic has hit worse the steel demand within the country due to the second wave, which resulted in a 22 percent drop in April 2021, and a further 1 percent drop that followed the trend in May 2021, the agency added.

On the bright side, the data stating the current year’s demand and consumption look far better as compared to the former year. The reason could be the nationwide lockdown and stricter guidelines that were imposed during April-May 2020.

Though the domestic demand has not gained much momentum, buoyant international demand and steel prices have experienced a surge that has helped the domestic steelmakers in India to remain a net exporter of steel with 122% year-over-year growth in exports in April 2021.

Though the exports in April month were lower than March 2021, the export momentum continued with a 30% M-o-M growth recorded in May 2021.

With many auctioned merchant mines yet to ramp up to their early level of production in Odisha, the country is experiencing a shortage of iron ore which is a key raw material in the production of steel.

This has further aggravated the domestic iron-ore prices due to which exports have become remunerative for miners. Even the higher grades of iron-ore export attract a 30% duty.

ICRA expects the shortage to persist for the next 6-9 months, resulting in elevated prices for a greater part of FY2022.

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Bada Business Organizes A Vaccination Drive For Its Employees & Their Relatives!

Bada Business Organizes A Vaccination Drive For Its Employees & Their Relatives!
Bada Business Organizes A Vaccination Drive For Its Employees & Their Relatives!

Bada Business has organized a two-day vaccination drive for its employees from 20 May to 21 May 2021. To ensure the safety and protection of all its employees Bada Business has collaborated with Fortis Hospitals and organized the vaccination drive in their office premises.

The organization also extended the benefits of vaccination to the families, relatives, and friends of those who are a part of Bada Business Pvt. Ltd. A team of professional doctors was also present at the venue to aid and ensure the well-being of the employees post-vaccination. The vaccination drive continued for eight hours each day, during which more than 350 employees and their relatives received their first shot of COVAXIN that will help them to combat the deadly virus.

According to the latest health ministry data, India on 24 May 2021 posted 196,427 new coronaviruses cases over the last 24 hours. The country`s overall case numbers now stand at 26.95 million, while the total fatalities are at 307,231.

When one thought that the challenges and hauntings of 2020 were behind us, and the COVID-cases had dropped to all-time lows, the virus returned to wreak havoc and destruction again. India is presently battling an aggressive second wave of the COVID-19 and witnessing an unusual resurgence in infection cases all across the country.

Where millions of people lost their loved ones, many others had to struggle till their last breaths for ambulance, medicines, oxygen supply, and even hospital beds. As the healthcare system of the country crumbled under the unexpected number of patients and lack of facilities, many citizens and businessmen stepped up and came forward to help the COVID-19 patients.

Bada Business has set up a Free COVID Care facility in collaboration with ISKCON to aid the covid patients. The facility is equipped with 200-oxygen beds, along with a team of 10 doctors, 30 nurses, 30 paramedics, along 40 volunteers from the organization itself. You can also watch our video here:

The idea of coming up with a make-shift hospital struck Dr. Vivek Bindra, Founder, and CEO of Bada Business Pvt ltd, when one of his team members Nishant, who was working closely with him lost his father. Nishant`s father was a doctor and was working round-the-clock in the hospital to treat the covid patients. However, he got infected himself and due to the lack of oxygen supply and other medical treatment, he passed away.

Currently, the free Covid Care Facility which is established in Deen Dayal Upadhyay College, Dwarka is taking care of 200 Covid patients who are also provided with nutritious meals, and other facilities came into existence in just 4 days. However, the plan to expand it to 2000 beds is also in the pipeline.

Bada Business also organized a fundraising event earlier this month to run the free covid care center for the next six months. Many celebrities like Vivek Oberoi, Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Daler Mehendi, Sanjeev Kapoor, Hema Malini, Sunil Grover, Raju Shrivastav, Ritesh Agarwal, and many others became a part of that event and helped to raise money for such a noble cause.

Life hits us like a hurricane and unfortunately, it does not come with a pre-warning. These challenging times are causing stress for everyone and are far from over. However, what is worth appreciating is to see so many people coming together with sincerity, and a sense of purpose to help those who are in dire need by doing all that they can. And this pandemic is just a bend along the road that will straighten out itself only with compassion, determination, love, kindness, and collective efforts to serve humanity.

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9 Interesting Facts About Sachin You Didn’t Know!

9 Interesting Facts about Sachin Tendulkar

On November 16, 2013, when the batting legend Sachin Tendulkar decided to bid adieu from the game; he is regarded as the ‘God’ of, millions of eyes shed tears of joy and sorrow at the same time.

While Sachin Tendulkar delivered his last speech with choked words and moist eyes; tens of thousands of his fans stood in the Wankhede stadium holding their breaths as the euphoria of catching the last glimpse of their favorite Indian cricketer on his home ground surmounted.

India, where cricket is the religion, and the stadiums scream of the infamous “Sachin….Sachin”, it would be considered a sin to not know this man who has made fans across the globe go breathless with his beautiful strokes, timeless elegance, calm demeanor on the field and his relentless dedication to the game.

Yes, we are talking about Sachin Tendulkar- the God of Cricket. And if you want to watch hand-picked stories that are unseen and unheard of, watch them here:

An unparalleled career that was further glorified with grand records created and broken by the ‘Little Master’ has been an inspiration for many national and international sportspersons who dare to dream.

Bringing some of the most untouched aspects from his life, we are going to tell you 9 interesting facts that we bet you probably did not know:

  1. Sachin Tendulkar is considered to be the best batsman, to date. But did you know that he wanted to become a fast bowler? However, when he went to the MRF Pace Foundation, Australian legend Dennis Lillee asked him to focus on his batting instead.
  2. Sachin Tendulkar bats and bowls from his right hand. But he writes from his left hand. This makes this legend ambidextrous too.
  3. Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed by Australian pacer Brett Lee for a record 14 times. This is the highest by any bowler.
  4. Sachin`s first car was a Maruti-800, and you know what, he still owns it.
  5. In 1987, during Pakistan`s tour of India, Sachin was sent in as a substitute fielder when Abdul Qadir and Javed Miandad went during lunchtime.

Remembering this incident, Sachin writes in his book “Playing it My Way”, “I don’t know whether Imran Khan remembers this or has any idea that I once fielded for his Pakistan team”.

  1. Sachin Tendulkar was the first international batsman who was given out by the third umpire, Jonty Rhodes in 1992 against South Africa.
  2. Tendulkar`s coach Ramakant Achrekar used to give him a Re 1 coin whenever he completed his entire practice session without getting dismissed. To date, this cricket legend has kept the collection of 13 coins with him.
  3. In Manchester, 1990, for his maiden Test ton, Sachin was awarded a bottle of champagne. But as the British rules didn’t allow people under 18 to drink, he waited for 8 year and opened the bottle on his daughter Sara`s first birthday in 1998.
  4. Sachin Tendulkar is the only Indian cricketer who has received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna Award, and Padma Shri by the Indian government.

So what do you think, did you know the God of cricket as well as you thought you did? Let us know in the comment section below.

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India Inc’s Revenue Expected to Grow at 15-17% in Fourth Quarter of FY21: Report

Growth in FDI | Representational Image (Photo Credits: Pixabay)
Growth in Revenues | Representational Image (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

The corporate revenues in India are likely to grow by 15 per cent to 17 per cent year-on-year in the forth quarter of financial year 2021, as per a report by Crisil. It further adds that the revenues are expected to rise to Rs 6.9 Lakh Crore by the said duration. This comes after eight quarters of either decline or single digit growth in the sector. According to the report,  construction-linked sectors such as steel and cement are estimated to have seen revenue rise 45-50 per cent and 17- 18 per cent on-year, respectively, buoyed by higher realisations and volumes. India Attracts More Than $72 Billion FDI In The First 10 Months of FY21.

The revenue estimates are based on an analysis of 300 companies, that totals to around 55-66 per cent of the market capitalisation financial services and oil companies of the National Stock Exchange.  “The robust revenue growth rides on a low base of the corresponding year-ago quarter, besides higher government capital expenditure, and higher realisations amid a commodity upcycle, among others,” said Crisil Research Director Hetal Gandhi. 3 Top Investment Schemes in India to put your money at!

“Revenue for players in sectors such as airline services is estimated to drop 30 per cent on-year amid social distancing and cut in discretionary expenses, especially travel budgets,” he added.  “Similarly, revenue for players in media and entertainment is also expected to drop 10 per cent on-year due to lower advertisement spends and subscriptions. That said, a lower share of such sectors in the top 300 sectoral mix has muted the impact,” said  Gandhi.

According to the report by Crisil, that owing to the second wave of coronavirus pandemic, various states are likely to mount partial lockdown, keeping demand recovery uncertain in the near term. The COVID-19 cases have lately witnessed a spike in India, several states in Maharashtra, Punjab have already imposed a night curfew in order to curtail the spread of virus.

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Actor Sonu Sood becomes a Messiah Again; Adopts 4 daughters of Uttarakhand Disaster Victim

Once again, the Bollywood actor Sonu Sood emerged as the savior after adopting four daughters of a man who had lost his life in the recent Uttarakhand floods that happened earlier this month.

Alam Singh Pundir, a 45-year old resident of the Loyaal village of Tehri district was working as an electrician in the Tapovan Hydropower project. He was working inside the tunnel when the flash flood took place. He lost his life in the floods, leaving his wife and four daughters behind.

Earlier this month, a glacier burst in Uttarakhand`s Chamoli district causing widespread destruction and damage to life and property. Not only the avalanche and flash flood claimed many lives, but many people also went missing and untraceable.

Sonu Sood, who was informed on Twitter about the deceased and his family, which includes his wife and four daughters, aged 14, 11, 8, and 2 years, came to their aid. His team immediately extended a helping hand to the family and the actor has decided to adopt and support the family of the deceased.

Sonu Sood posted a Tweet on the social media platform, calling the family of the deceased “his own” from now onwards.

He will also help the daughters to receive education and get married. This is not the first time that the actor-turned-philanthropist has come forward to help someone in need. Actor Sonu Sood has consistently helped many underprivileged families during the nationwide lockdown.

His generosity and noble gestures inspired thousands of fans, politicians, peers, and many celebrities. He earned the title of a Messiah and a real-life superhero.

 

 

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The Centre released the 17tth Installment of GST Compensation: What it means for States & UTs?

gst
GST

The 17th weekly installment of INR 5,000crore has been released by the Centre on 19 February 2021 to the states to meet the shortfall of Goods & Services Tax (GST).

Previously, the installment of ₹6,000crores was released on 15 February 2021 on Monday. A large amount of financial aid has been borrowed by the states this week at an interest rate of 5.5924%.

According to the latest press release by the department of expenditure of the Finance Ministry an amount of total amount ₹4,730.41crores has been released to 23 states.

The three union territories with the Legislative Assembly (Delhi, J&K, and Puducherry) who are the members of the GST council also received the amount of ₹269.59crores, the statement read.

The remaining five states Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Mizoram do not have a gap in revenue on account of GST Implementation.

In October 2020, the Centre established a special borrowing window to meet the estimated shortfall of ₹1.10 lakh crores in the revenue due to the implementation of GST. The government has also granted the additional borrowing permission equivalent to 0.50% of Gross States Domestic Product.  In addition to this special window, the Centre has also provided funds through the special window to meet the shortfall.

“All the states have given their preference for Option-I. Permission for borrowing the entire additional amount of ₹1, 06,830 crores (0.50% of GSDP) has been granted to 28 states under this provision,” the Finance Ministry said.