In Q4FY21, Escorts margins will be impacted by input cost

Despite the positives, analysts caution that Escorts and M&M may witness commodity cost pressures that could impact the margins.

“In Q4FY21, Escorts margins will be impacted by input cost escalation of 5 per cent against which the company has already taken a price hike of 2 per cent in November 2020. The company plans to take another such price hike in the first quarter of FY22,” Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in a recent note.

That apart, steep valuation after a sharp rally since the past few months may limit immediate upside.

Not to be left behind, actor Kangana Ranaut stepped in to do what she does best – vomit out a volley of disjointed sentences that have zero connection to anything actually happening in the real world. We wouldn’t like to link to her tweet out of sheer consideration for your senses but for those of you who are curious, she essentially called protesting farmers terrorists working at the behest of the Chinese. Ranaut tweeting out madcap conspiracy theories comes as no surprise. What beats us is the media’s persistence in amplifying her statements.

So, we had NDTV telling us how Ranaut ‘slammed’ Rihanna.

“Explodes” sounds about right for a massive star turning into a black hole of misinformation. The supernova moment could have very well been Ranaut’s last interview on Republic TV.

There isn’t a media house that hasn’t amplified Ranaut’s tweets with headlines stressing how she thinks Rihanna is foolish.

This farce will continue so long as media outlets are dependent on advertisements to get which they need to generate clicks for their websites with non-stories. If you want actual news on the farmers’ movement, follow the Newslaundry Twitter handle, or log on to our website for reports from the ground.

Newslaundry does not depend on advertisements, what keeps us going is subscriptions from news consumers who care for real news and critique of news media. Do your bit and subscribe to Newslaundry if you don’t want Ranaut exploding and slamming on your news feed.

To boost its revenue income, BMC proposed to appoint a fee revision authority, which will suggest a revision of fees for civic amenities, like entry fee to gardens, among others. “The BMC needs funds in the future to meet the increasing capital expenditure. Hence, it is the necessity of time to seek other avenues of income,” said Chahal.

The decision by Centre will increase the 7th pay commission linked DA of the Central government employees by 8%.

The DA restoration will lead to a rise in central government employees' 7th CPC linked Travel Allowance (TA) too.

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Mumbai: Under Covid-19 shadow, health gets an uptick

As the city gears up for civic polls next year, the Shiv Sena-led BMC made infrastructure projects a top priority by earmarking Rs 18750.99 crore, with an ambitious 28 per cent increase in capital expenditure.

Also, to get reports regarding demand, collection and outstanding amount of tax per property, BMC is set to move online. It further said failure to pay property tax will lead to attachments of properties, auctions and disconnection of water supply.

Kangana Ranaut ‘explodes’ and ‘slams’ on our news feed. Yet again

Why do Indian media outlets routinely amplify dangerous conspiracy theories? It’s good for business.

Viewed over one lakh times, the clip has prompted several reactions among netizens with many quite amused with the incident.

Sanjana Sanghi keeps it casual yet powerful; steals the show with latest look

Sanjana Sanghi was styled by celebrity stylist duo Pranay Jaitly and Shounak Amonkar and the end results are fabulous!

If you follow Sanjana Sanghi on social media, then we do not need to tell you that the actor’s fashion game is always on point. Whether it is pairing a denim crop top with an intricately detailed skirt or acing an ombré sequin sari — the Dil Bechara actor knows how to turn heads with her style choices.

So when she spotted one of her latest looks, we admit that we simply loved it — in fact, it even made it to the list of our current favourites!

Sanjana totally killed it in a lime green co-ord set from Lovebirds Studio. The set comprises an oversized blazer paired with matching ankle-length pants. The highlight of the look, however, was the matching waistbelt which gave the collared blazer some structure.

A strong outlook for the tractor industry, on the back of higher farm incomes due to better crop yields and prices, increasing mechanisation and government focus on infrastructure development, bodes well for the tractor-maker Escorts and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), according to analysts who see an up to 21 per cent upside in the former following its December quarter numbers.

Escorts, whose stock has rallied 152 per cent since its March low of Rs 527.10 on the BSE, posted an 83.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in its net profit at Rs 280.7 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2020, led by robust sales across business segments. M&M, on the other hand, has gained 232 per cent from its 52-week low hit in March. The S&P BSE Sensex and the BSE Auto indices have gained 94 per cent and 136 per cent, respectively since March lows, ACE Equity data show.

Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala owns 4.75 per cent stake in Escorts as of December 2020 quarter, according to the shareholding pattern available on the BSE. During the said quarter, he reduced his stake by 0.89 per cent.

Going ahead, while analysts see the tractor volumes for the firm growing, revival in the economy and government spending are likely to boost the revenues for the construction equipment and railway segments. Following Escorts’ Q3 numbers, Kotak Institutional Equities (KIE) maintained a 'BUY' rating on the stock and raised its target price to Rs 1,700 from Rs 1,680 earlier, implying an upside of 21 per cent from the current levels on the BSE. The brokerage said it values the stock at 17 times March 2023E EPS.

Analysts at Phillip Capital and HDFC securities, too, have 'BUY' and 'ADD' rating on Escorts with a target price of Rs 1,615 and Rs 1,480, respectively.

Strong tractor demand

Analysts see strong tractor demand to continue in the fourth quarter of FY21 and well into FY22. According to KIE, total tractor volumes for the company will grow at 14.5 per cent YoY in FY2021E and 10.7 per cent in FY2022E. That apart, the company’s Rs 3.3 billion order book from Indian railway with an execution timeline of 6-8 months also gives revenue visibility.

"While pent-up demand is more or less over, farm ecosystem indicators are all positive and hence growth should continue. Furthermore, the non-agri use of tractors (25–35 per cent of sales), which is yet to revive, could support tractor demand in FY22," analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in a recent note.

The firm on Monday posted a 48.8 per cent YoY jump in tractor sales at 9,021 units in January 2021. The company during the announcement of sales had said the tractor market continues to be strong on the back of positive macroeconomic factors and strong rural cash flows.

M&M, too, according to Gaurang Shah, head investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services will not only benefit from the tractor sales growth but also because of its diversifies profile and foray into the passenger vehicle segment.

AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital also shares this view. “Given M&M's 40 per cent market shares in the tractor segment, it will be a key beneficiary of the growth in the segment. If Escorts has reported record sales in December quarter, there are similar expectation for M&M, too,” he said.

Downside risks

Further, BMC proposed to revise scrutiny fee levied by the Mumbai Fire Brigade for granting permission to buildings, residential societies and builders to provide fire and life safety measures in the properties. The scrutiny fee was last revised in 2010. If the fee is revised, BMC estimates an additional income of Rs 140 crore. The civic body also proposed the implementation of fire service fee, from which it expects a revenue of Rs 20 crore.

o improve property tax collection – BMC’s second-highest source of income, almost 24 per cent of its revenue – Chahal stressed on reforming property tax assessment and collection.

“Though BMC is facing various difficulties due to the pandemic, including increased expenditure against the affected revenue collection, the budget estimates are prepared with the vision of upgradation of civic facilities to worldwide standards in order to fulfill our dream of climate and disaster-resilient city and thereby, healthier and happier livelihood,” said Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal in his budget speech.

Much to the chagrin of Indian Twitter anti-farmer lobby (channelling our inner Times Now), Rihanna has spoken.

BMC official drinks sanitiser while presenting education budget

Reeling under the shadow of Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed 11,375 lives and infected over 3.1 lakh so far in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) earmarked Rs 4728.53 crore to upgrade public healthcare infrastructure in its 2021-22 budget estimate of Rs 39038.83 crore, which was presented before the Standing Committee on Wednesday.

The allocation for health is a 10 per cent increase over last year’s Rs 4,260 crore.

Budget 2021-22 is an increase of 16.74 per cent over last year’s Rs 33441.02 crore.

He said that BMC’s revenues have declined due to the decisions taken to combat Covid-19 and to provide relief to different sectors affected by the pandemic. “The slowdown in the real estate sector led to a reduction in the assessment of new properties, thereby decreasing revenue collection,” Chahal said.

BMC has not proposed any new taxes or increase. However, as scheduled, the capital value of the property tax will be revised in 2021-22, thus increasing property tax.

There will be no rise in property tax for the financial year 2020-21. Chahal clarified that only the general tax component of property tax will be exempted for properties up to 500 sq ft. Sena, ahead of Assembly elections in 2019, had promised exemption of property tax for houses up to 500 sq ft.

To reduce the load on major hospitals, BMC proposed to upgrade six peripheral hospitals across eastern and western suburbs into postgraduate medical institutes.

It also plans to provide mobile clinics for primary health treatment. One mobile clinic van each, equipped with trained medical staff, has been proposed for the island city as well as eastern and western suburbs.

For strengthening the existing healthcare infrastructure, BMC has undertaken major structural repairs of 29 hospitals, 287 health posts and 28 maternity homes. For this purpose, it made a budgetary provision of Rs 822.72 crore in 2021-22. Also, renovation work of hospitals, halted by the pandemic, will begin soon. The BMC aims to complete the pending projects by 2022-23.

To enhance the capacity to tackle communicable diseases, BMC proposed upgradation of Kasturba hospital. It further proposed Rs 780.69 crore for the upgradation of existing hospital buildings and new buildings. A super-speciality hospital in Bhandup and a super-speciality wing at Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital in Kandivali were also proposed.

Despite the low revenue income in 2020-21, BMC scaled up its capital expenditure compared to the last four years. Two of its major sources of income – property tax and development charges – have been hit badly.

In his speech, Chahal announced a target of Rs 7,000 crore revenue from property tax and Rs 2,000 crore from development plan (DP) fees and premiums for 2020-21. But until December 2020, BMC’s revenue income were a measly Rs 738 crore from property tax and Rs 708 crore from DP fees and premiums.

But Chahal expressed confidence that BMC would be able to meet the revenue targets by the year-end and the gap between the revenue income estimate and the collection will only be Rs 400 crore.

mumbai: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) deputy municipal commissioner Ramesh Pawar mistakenly drank sanitiser while presenting the civic body's education budget on Wednesday.During the presentation, he picked up a bottle and took a sip. He then realised that the bottle contained hand sanitiser and spat it out immediately.

Explained: How Burma became Myanmar after a military coup 3 decades ago

For many decades, many governments around the world ignored the name changes, and continued to call the country Burma and its capital Rangoon.

The Myanmar military grabbed power in a coup on Monday (February 1) – the third time in the nation’s history since its independence from British rule in 1948.

After the last such takeover in 1988, the armed forces went on to make a decision that would remain controversial for decades: changing the country’s name.

How Burma became Myanmar

When British imperialists annexed what is today’s Myanmar during the 19th century, they called it Burma after the dominant Burman (Bamar) ethnic group, and administered it as a province of colonial India. This arrangement continued until 1937, when Burma was separated from British India and made a separate colony.

Even after the country became independent in 1948, it retained the same name, becoming the ‘Union of Burma’. In 1962, the military took over from a civilian government for the first time, and amended the official name in 1974 to the ‘Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma’.

Then in 1988, Myanmar’s armed forces again took power in the country, after suppressing a popular uprising that led to the deaths of thousands, and reversed the official name to ‘Union of Burma’. But a year later, the junta adopted a law that replaced Burma with Myanmar, making the country the ‘Union of Myanmar’.

A number of other places in the country also saw their names changed, including the then-capital city, which went from Rangoon to Yangon (since 2005, the capital is Naypyidaw, 370 km away to the north).

Why the name change was controversial

While changing the country’s name, the military said that it was looking for a way to leave behind a name inherited from the colonial past, and adopt a new one which could unify all of its 135 officially recognised ethnic groups, and not just the Burman people.

Critics decried the move, arguing that Myanmar and Burma mean the same thing in the Burmese language, only that the ‘Myanmar’ is a more formal way of saying ‘Burma’– a word used colloquially. The other name changes too, such as Rangoon to Yangon, only reflected greater conformity with the Burmese language, and nothing else. Also, the name changes took place only in English. Even in English, the adjective form remained (and continues to remain) Burmese, and not Myanmarese.

Pro-democracy sympathisers said that the name changes were illegitimate, as they were not decided by the will of the people. As a result, many governments around the world opposed to the junta decided to ignore the name changes, and continued to call the country Burma and its capital Rangoon.

So, when did ‘Myanmar’ start becoming acceptable?

In the 2010s, the military regime decided to transition the country towards democracy. Although the armed forces remained powerful, political opponents were freed and elections were allowed to be held.

In 2015, currently detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won a majority of seats in the national parliament, a feat it repeated in 2020.

As the Myanmar-vs-Burma debate became less polarising, most foreign governments and international organisations decided to recognise Myanmar as the official name. Many governments, such as Australia’s, decided to use both Burma and Myanmar, as means of signalling support for the democratic transition within the country and following diplomatic protocol at the same time.

Suu Kyi, who became the country’s civilian leader in 2016, also expressed support for using either Myanmar or Burma.

Not all countries followed suit, however. The US remains among the few countries to not recognise the current legal name. This was highlighted after the latest coup took place on Monday, when President Joe Biden said in a statement, “The United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy. The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws.”

Explained: Who is Rihanna, the superstar who wants focus on farmers

Rihanna, the singer-businesswoman with a net worth of more than $600 million, is well known for her association with humanitarian, philanthropic, and cultural causes.

Barbadian pop sensation Rihanna on Tuesday became one of the first global personalities to back the protesting farmers in India, and was followed by climate activist Greta Thunberg, actor John Cusack, US Vice president Kamala Harris’s niece Meena Harris, and Lebanese-American model Mia Khalifa, among others. The 32-year-old singer-actor’s tweet to her 101 million-plus followers, “Why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest” quoted a CNN report headlined ‘India cuts internet around New Delhi as protesting farmers clash with police’. The Ministry of External Affairs issued an unusual reaction to the criticism by “celebrities and others”, calling them “neither accurate nor responsible”.

‘Can’t mess with nature’: Eagle flies away with drone, video triggers hilarious reactions online

The clip, which was originally shared on Facebook, later went viral on several social media platforms. "Eagle plucks a drone out of the sky and flies off with it," wrote a user @buitengebieden while posting the clip on Twitter.

A video of an eagle flying off with a drone has left netizens amused after it went viral on social media.

The undated video features the drone filming a beach and moving towards the shore before being plucked by the bird, who flies away with it.

The clip, which was originally shared on Facebook, later went viral on several social media platforms. “Eagle plucks a drone out of the sky and flies off with it,” wrote a user @buitengebieden while posting the clip on Twitter.

“Valuations at 14.5x/13.6x FY22/FY23E consolidated EPS largely reflect strong growth and the Kubota partnership as it is trading at a good premium of 10 per cent to long period average (LPA),” they said while maintaining a 'Neutral' rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,470.

It appears the central government employees wait for revised Dearness Allowance is about to end. Apparently, it will also benefit their LTA. The Union Labour Office has declared the AICPI (All India Consumer Price Index) data. This is a good news for the central government employees who are waiting for their revised Dearness Allowance. The move is likely to benefit 35 lakh central government employees waiting for the DA announcement for January to June 2021 period.

This data is crucial as it hints that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre would announce at least 4 per cent hike in the DA for the said period, taking it to 21 per cent.

After the declaration of this AICPI data, there is a little more clarity on DA hike for the central government employees.

Earlier last year, the government had decided to freeze DA for the central government employees till June 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic. The decision was taken by the Modi government to combat coronavirus outbreak. This is to be understood that the hike in the DA will also lead to a rise in central government employees' Travel Allowance (TA) too.

The Centre had said that DA hike will be announced on the usual time but the salary hike will take place only after June 2021.

"The announcement by the Centre means that 4 per cent DA hike for July to December 2020 and the expected 4 per cent DA hike under 7th pay commission for January to June 2020 will not be added in the monthly salary of the employees. But once the Centre announces DA hike and adds it to the central government employees' salary, there will be a huge jump in their income."

The tweet was enough for Twitter trolls to let loose on the American singer with some bringing up disturbing images of domestic abuse she had suffered as a comeback. (Each day is a new low for establishment lackeys on Twitter.)