Endeavor Careers Choicest Blogs: Weekly Current Affairs: April 2022, Week 03

Welcome to the Endeavor Editors’ Weekly Current Affairs Choicest Blog series. Get a weekly roundup – of news from business, economy, markets, policy, and more. A quick capsule format news summary and update to keep you abreast with all the latest current affairs.

1) International News and Global Economy

Sri Lankan delegation heads to the US to seek $4 bn bailout package from IMF

A Sri Lankan government delegation is headed to the US to engage with the IMF to secure a USD 4 billion package as it desperately tries to salvage the country’s beleaguered economy currently reeling under a severe forex crisis. The delegation led by newly-appointed finance minister Ali Sabry will hold talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) between April 19 and April 24. Sabry has said that Sri Lanka is seeking a bail-out package of USD 4 billion from the IMF, having earlier resisted calls to seek a facility from the global lender. Sri Lanka had to meet USD 7 billion of debt payments this year. This was the first-ever debt default by Sri Lanka in its history since 1948 and the country’s 22 million people are facing crippling 12-hour power cuts, and an extreme scarcity of food, fuel, and other essential items such as medicines.

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Russian warship: Moskva sinks in the Black Sea

A Russian warship that was damaged by an explosion on Wednesday has sunk, Russia’s defense ministry has said. Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, was being towed to port when “stormy seas” caused it to sink, according to a ministry message. The 510-crew missile cruiser was a symbol of Russia’s military power, leading its naval assault on Ukraine. Kyiv says its missiles hit the warship. The United States says it also believes it was hit by Ukrainian missiles. Moscow has not reported any attack – it says the vessel sank after a fire. The blaze caused the explosion of the warship’s ammunition, Russia says, adding that the entire crew was later evacuated to nearby Russian vessels in the Black Sea. The 12,490-tonne vessel is the biggest Russian warship to be sunk in action since World War Two.

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Russia demands Ukrainian surrender in Mariupol

Russia gave holdout Ukrainian soldiers an ultimatum on Sunday to lay down arms in the pulverized southeastern port of Mariupol which Moscow said its forces nearly completely controlled in what would be its biggest capture of the nearly two-month war. Several hours after the 0300 GMT deadline there was no sign of compliance by Ukrainian fighters holed up in the vast Azovstal steelworks overlooking the Sea of Azov. Having failed to overcome Ukrainian resistance in the north since President Vladimir Putin’s Feb. 24 invasion, the Russian military has refocused on the eastern Donbas region where Mariupol is the main port. The Russian Defence Ministry said its troops had cleared the urban area of Mariupol, which has seen some of the fiercest fighting and worst civilian suffering with bodies littering streets and thousands hunkered down in atrocious conditions underground.

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Ukraine rejects Moscow’s ultimatum

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Russia warns of nuclear deployment if Finland, Sweden join NATO

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned Thursday that Russia would deploy nuclear weapons close to the Baltic States and Scandinavia if Finland or Sweden decide to join NATO. Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and President from 2008 to 2012, wrote on Telegram that if the countries joined, this would more than double Russia’s land border with NATO members. “Naturally, we will have to reinforce these borders,” he said. “In this case, it would not be possible to talk anymore about the Baltic non-nuclear status. The balance has to be restored,” he said, indicating that Russia would be entitled to deploy nuclear weapons in the region.

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Nepal seeks overseas nationals’ help to build up forex reserves amid economic woes

Nepal is asking citizens living abroad to deposit funds in domestic banks as part of efforts to ensure the financial system has enough liquidity and to preserve foreign exchange reserves, finance minister Janardan Sharma said on Saturday. Nepal, wedged between China and India, this month imposed curbs on luxury goods imports to rein in capital outflows. Foreign exchange reserves fell over 18% to $9.6 billion as of mid-March from mid-July – enough for around six months of imports. In Nepal, remittances by overseas workers, which constitute nearly a quarter of the economy and are crucial for external payments, fell 3.0% to $5.3 billion between mid-July to mid-March, compared with a 5% increase in the same period a year earlier. Earnings from tourism, which fell sharply after the start of the pandemic in 2020, are slowly picking up, but remain well below pre-COVID levels.

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More Chinese cities impose COVID curbs as Shanghai cases rise

Shanghai reported a record number of symptomatic COVID-19 cases on Saturday and other areas across China imposed restrictions as the country kept up its “dynamic clearance” approach that aims to stamp out the highly transmissible Omicron COVID-19 variant. Shanghai, at the center of China’s recent outbreak, on Saturday reported a record 3,590 symptomatic cases for April 15, as well as 19,923 asymptomatic cases. The asymptomatic case number was up slightly from 19,872 cases a day earlier. The city’s COVID case tally makes up the vast majority of cases nationwide even as most of its 25 million residents remain under lockdown. The lingering and widening restrictions highlight broad supply chain disruptions that are seen likely to lead to delays in shipments from companies including Apple. Economists also say the curbs will weigh on the country’s economic growth rate this year. China’s central bank on Friday evening cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, aiming to cushion a sharp slowdown in growth.

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Three Chinese astronauts return to Earth after six months in space

Three Chinese astronauts landed in northern China on Saturday after 183 days in space, state broadcaster CCTV said, ending the country’s longest crewed space mission to date. The Shenzhou-13 spacecraft is the latest mission in Beijing’s drive to become a major space power rivaling the US, after landing a rover on Mars and sending probes to the Moon. Wang became the first Chinese woman to spacewalk last November, as she and her colleague Zhai installed space station equipment during a six-hour stint. The trio has completed two spacewalks, carried out numerous scientific experiments, set up equipment, and tested technologies for future construction during their time in orbit. Tiangong is expected to operate for at least 10 years, and the three astronauts are the second group to stay there.

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Explained: Who is Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s new Prime Minister?

Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of Imran’s predecessor, Nawaz Sharif, runs the main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of another former prime minister and head of the second-largest opposition group, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), has confirmed he wants Shehbaz to have the job, for now at least. But who is he?

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‘No peace without…’: Shehbaz Sharif links normal ties to India with Kashmir

Shehbaz Sharif, the brother of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, is expected to lead the crisis-hit nation. Ahead of taking over as the PM of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif spoke about ties with India. India has maintained J&K ‘was, is, and will always remain an integral part of the country. Pakistan’s attempts to ‘internationalize’ the Kashmir issue have repeatedly failed. India & Pakistan haven’t held a comprehensive dialogue since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

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Pakistan under Rs 60 billion burdens as Prime Minister Sharif rejects proposal for fuel hike

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has put an additional burden of around Rs 30 billion on the exchequer by turning down the oil and gas authority’s proposal to increase the fuel prices thus further deteriorating the economic situation of the country. An amount of Rs 30 billion is already due on account of price differential claims due to keeping oil prices unchanged from April 1, 2022. The government will be paying a price of Rs 60 billion to oil companies due to maintaining existing oil prices for the month of April. The Oil and Gas Regulatory in a bid to provide relief to the country’s crippled economy proposed Sharif beef up the fuel price however the premier refused to accept the offer which led to a devastating effect. PM’s decline will now torment the government exchequer with an additional burden of around Rs30 billion.

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2) India

India rebuts NYT report on Covid deaths; Objects to WHO methodology

India has reacted sharply to The New York Times article which claimed accused India of stalling the WHO’s efforts to make the global covid death toll public’. The Health Ministry has said their basic objection has not been with the result but with the methodology used for estimating the deaths. In a statement, the Health Ministry said that the same mathematical model cannot be used to calculate the Covid deaths for a large country like India and for other countries with a smaller population.

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3) Economy

Budget CAPEX to boost tax, help India become a $5-trillion economy: Finance Ministry

The focus on CAPEX in the recently announced Budget for the current fiscal year will boost manufacturing and tax revenue collections, thereby keeping India on track to becoming a USD 5 trillion economy, the finance ministry said on Thursday. Tax revenues in the last fiscal year grew by a record 34 percent to Rs 27.07 lakh crore, which the ministry said is “a remarkable testimony to the rapid recovery” of the economy following successive waves of COVID-19. Prime Minister Narendra Modi 2019 envisioned making India a USD 5 trillion economy and a global economic powerhouse. The Indian GDP is estimated to be around USD 3 trillion in 2021-22.

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India’s forex reserves are enough to cover just a year’s imports

India’s strength in the external sector may be shaking as imports sure amidst capital outflows on account of tightening of policy rates by the US Fed. India’s $600 billion strong forex reserves are adequate to finance 12 months’ imports as of March 2022, down 30 percent in a year since March 2021. As of March 31, 2022, India’s foreign exchange reserves at $ 607.3 billion is equivalent to 12 months of merchandise imports in 2021-22 or 98.8 percent of outstanding external debt by end-December 2021, according to the latest RBI data. Exactly a year ago in March 2021 reserves were adequate to fund 17.4 months’ imports.

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4) Markets, Banking, and Finance

Moody’s expects the Indian banking sector to stabilize on an economic rebound

Global credit rating agency Moody’s expects India’s banking sector to stabilize this year riding on a gradual economic recovery, improving consumer and business confidence, the decline in bad loan provisions, and better margins, despite the uncertainties posed by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Fundamentals for the sector will improve especially due to India’s continuing economic recovery, which Moody’s expects will grow at 8.4% in the fiscal ending March 2023, down from 9.3% in the year ended March 2022. “Increasing corporate earnings and easing funding constraints for non-bank finance companies, which are significant borrowers from banks, will support loan growth. We expect growth in bank loans to accelerate to 12%-13% in fiscal 2023 from 5% in fiscal 2022,” Moody’s said.

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HDFC Bank to raise Rs 50,000 cr via bonds; re-appoints Renu Karnad as director

HDFC Bank on Saturday said it will raise up to Rs 50,000 crore in the next year by issuing bonds aimed at financing infrastructure and affordable housing loan requirements of the customers. The decision was taken at the meeting of the board of directors. The country’s largest private sector lender by asset size, which is set to merge its parent company HDFC Ltd with itself, also informed that the board has approved to re-appoint Renu Karnad as a non-executive director on the board of the bank for a period of five years with effect from September 3, 2022. Karnad’s re-appointment is as a nominee director of Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC Ltd), promoter of the bank. Renu Karnad is the Managing Director of Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd since 2010.

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Kotak pauses crypto trade with CoinSwitch Kuber

Kotak, which was among the very few Indian financial institutions that warmed up to the cryptocurrency world, is having second thoughts. The private sector bank has discontinued – at least temporarily – handling payments for trades with CoinSwitch Kuber, a large crypto intermediary, two persons told ET. What triggered the call is unclear, but sources said Kotak has decided to pause till the dust settles on cryptos. Kotak’s stand could deal a blow to the unregulated industry. It follows digital wallet MobiKwik reportedly snapping its links with crypto-related payments since the beginning of April. MobiKwik had emerged as the sole payment option for the bulk of crypto traders and multiple crypto exchanges, with almost all banks shutting their doors to the industry.

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Banks ask RBI to allow cloud adoption, list the dos & don’ts

The battling onslaught from fintech firms, high-street banks want the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to lay down the rules that allow them to store and analyze data on the Cloud which, they believe, is at the heart of digital transformation. A cloud service, simply put, offers data storage and computing power without the user’s — here, a bank’s —direct management. The proposal assumes significance in the wake of data security and other regulations on one hand, and the urgency felt by traditional banks to innovate with fintech firms challenging the conventional operating models and commercial structures. “The outsourcing guidelines of RBI are largely silent on hiring Cloud services. On Cloud adoption, institutions depend on MeiTY (the Ministry of electronics and information technology) and TRAI. But given the sensitivity of customer data, banks are looking for guidance from RBI. What kind of data can be on Cloud, what should be the protocol,” said a senior banker.

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5) Business

Tata rejigs Air India board; airline executives step down from the board, assume management positions

Tata Sons has rejigged the board of Air India moving the airline’s executives who held board positions to senior management roles. The automobile-to-aviation conglomerate has also appointed a chief commercial officer, and heads of HR, digital and technology, customer experience, and ground handling at the airline. Air India veterans director-finance Vinod Hejmadi, director-commercial Meenakshi Malik, director-personnel Amrita Sharan director-operations RS Sandhu have stepped down from the airline’s board. Hejmadi is re-appointed chief financial officer, Sandhu will be chief of operations while Malik and Sharan will be advisors to chairman N Chandrasekaran (and then CEO when one is appointed) for commercial, technology, and HR. Tata Sons is implementing a systemic overhaul at the airline by bringing in more accountability, improving the on-time performance of flights, and customer services. In an address to employees, Chandrasekaran had said there will be considerable emphasis on a tech upgrade at the airline.

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EV maker Okinawa to recall 3,215 units of Praise Pro scooters amid probe

Electric two-wheeler maker Okinawa Autotech on Saturday said it will voluntarily recall 3,215 units of its Praise Pro scooters to fix any issues related to the battery in the vehicle. This is the first instance of a voluntary recall by any electric vehicle manufacturer in India. According to Okinawa, the recall is part of comprehensive power pack health check-up camps, where the batteries will be checked for loose connectors or any damage and be repaired free of charge at any of the Okinawa authorized dealerships pan India. The move comes at a time the e-scooter maker is being probed by a Central government agency over a recent incident of an electric short circuit in one of their scooters.

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BPCL to invest Rs 200 cr to set up 100 fast EV charging corridors with 2,000 stations

Public sector oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum on Wednesday said it will invest around Rs 200 crore this fiscal to set up 100 fast electric vehicle charging corridors having 2,000 stations along the busiest 100 national highways. The company has recently opened its first EV charging corridor along the Chennai-Trichi-Madurai highway with one charging unit. The second corridor will come upon the Kochi-Salem section of the National Highway 47 within the next two months, BPCL executive director for retail P S Ravi told PTI. He said for the long-term, the company has plans to have 7,000 fast EV charging stations by FY25. But he did not disclose the investment details. He said the third corridor will most probably be the Mumbai-Bengaluru National Highway 4 and will have multiple units as the highway has the highest traffic. Ravi said the national oil refiner and marketer, which is the second-largest player with close to 30 percent retail market in petrol and diesel, hopes that the EV ecosystem will grow faster than forecasted earlier, and the company wants to play a big role in setting up the basic infrastructure for this ambitious drive.

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The world’s largest cement maker Holcim considers the sale of Ambuja Cement, ACC

Holcim, the world’s largest cement maker, may exit India, putting its twin listed arms Ambuja Cements Ltd and ACC Ltd up for sale, the Economic Times reported, citing multiple people aware of the decision. The Swiss conglomerate is believed to have held early-stage negotiations with JSW and Adani Group, among others, to explore their interest levels, according to the report published on Thursday. Holcim is trying to diversify away from its core business of cement and aggregates to focus more on building technology as it increases its emphasis on sustainability.

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Ambuja and ACC Cement up for sale? JSW, Adani group show interest as Holcim may exit India

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Zomato serves up a ‘severe food quality’ policy stoking concerns among restaurants

Restaurant listing and food delivery platform Zomato said it may “temporarily disable” online ordering from restaurants if a consumer raises an issue about the quality of food in an email advisory on Wednesday that is stoking initial concerns among its restaurant partners. The Gurugram- based company said, “any complaint raised by an end customer regarding the quality of food or beverage, which can potentially cause serious harm to the customer’s health or well-being, will be classified as ‘severe food quality complaint.” “Depending on the nature of the complaint, you may be temporarily disabled from online ordering with Zomato till a third-party (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) approved) inspection of your premises is completed. The entire cost of such inspection will be borne by the restaurant,” the advisory stated. The advisory is triggering a pushback by the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI), which represents over 500,000 restaurants. NRAI is drafting a letter to Zomato to make a change to its policy, senior officials said.

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6) Technology

Twitter pops a ‘poison pill’ against Elon Musk’s hostile takeover bid— what does that mean?

Twitter moved on Friday to defend itself against Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $43 billion hostile takeover bid, announcing a plan that would allow shareholders to purchase additional stock. The company’s board has unanimously adopted a so-called shareholder rights plan, also known as a “poison pill”. “The Rights Plan will reduce the likelihood that any entity, person, or group gains control of Twitter through open market accumulation without paying all shareholders an appropriate control premium,” Twitter said in a statement. The poison pill strategy was developed by New York-based law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, and Katz in the 1980s. The term stems from the practice of spies carrying a poison pill that they could ingest if captured by the enemy, preventing them from extracting knowledge through torture or other means. While the poison pill strategy is bad for all shareholders in the near term, it also makes it difficult for the hostile party — in this case, Musk — to buy all of the new shares.

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Twitter moves to block Elon Musk takeover with ‘Poison Pill’ strategy

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WhatsApp to bet big on payments in India after NPCI nod for 100 mn users

A day after getting permission to raise its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) user base to 100 million, WhatsApp on Thursday said it has plans to make significant investments in ‘payments on WhatsApp’ across India, including India-first features and driving adoption. The company, however, did not share details of its plans. The Meta-owned messaging app got its first green light for its payments service from the National Payments Council of India (NPCI) in November 2020 with a cap of 20 million users. A year later, in November 2021, the limit was raised to 40 million users. On Wednesday, the NPCI relaxed the cap on WhatsApp Pay to 100 million. Industry insiders, however, say NPCI’s reluctance to allow WhatsApp to extend the service to all of its estimated 500 million users in India has hamstrung its plans.

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7) Politics

TMC wins Bengal LS, Assembly seats; victories for Congress and RJD too

A little over a month after it won elections in four states, the BJP suffered a setback in by-elections to four Assembly and one Lok Sabha seat, the results of which were announced on Saturday. The party could not win any of these elections, including for an Assembly seat in Bihar, where it is in power with the JD(U). In West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra, candidates of ruling parties emerged victoriously. The Trinamool Congress won both the Asansol Lok Sabha and Ballygunge Assembly seats, a signal that Mamata Banerjee continues to enjoy broad support in the state that she swept last May, even though the margin of the TMC’s victory in Ballygunge did come down.

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Weighed down by Gupkar agenda & proposed delimitation, PDP, NC lose footing in Jammu

With a new political contour emerging in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and the Delimitation Commission starting its work in recent weeks, both the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have lost almost all their key faces in Jammu. The latest leader to leave the NC is the party’s minority cell president MK Yogi, who resigned on April 8. He accused the party leadership of pursuing its agenda instead of strengthening the organization. Last December, prominent Kashmiri Pandit leader Anil Dhar quit the party in protest against NC president Farooq Abdullah blaming former Governor Jagmohan for the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir. Dhar claimed that the former chief minister’s statement was an attempt to absolve Pakistan of its involvement in terrorism in Kashmir. The National Conference had once made inroads even in predominantly Hindu-inhabited Jammu and Samba districts by winning Assembly constituencies such as Marh, Nagrota, and Vijaypur. But most of its key leaders in the region have moved over to the BJP in the past few months.

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Blow to Congress in Assam as former state chief Ripun Bora quits party, joins TMC

The Congress in Assam suffered another setback on Sunday with senior leader and former state unit chief Ripun Bora quitting the party and joining Trinamool Congress (TMC). Bora, a former minister in the Assam cabinet and who was the Congress candidate for last month’s Rajya Sabha polls (which he lost), joined Commenting on the state of Congress in Assam, Bora claimed that there was “continuous infighting by a section of senior-most leaders of Assam” unit of the party, which prevented it from getting the peoples’ mandate in the 2021 assembly polls. Bora was the president of the state Congress during last year’s polls in which the party had tied up with nine other parties in a bid to wrest power from the BJP. But Congress managed to win just 29 of the total 126 seats leading to the BJP and allies forming the government again.

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8) Sports

Umran Malik, Aiden Markram Star As SRH defeats Punjab Kings By 7 Wickets

Umran Malik, Aiden Markram, and Nicholas Pooran displayed a good performance as SunRisers Hyderabad defeated Punjab Kings to register their fourth win on the trot this season. Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran played knocks of 41 and 35 as SRH defeated Punjab Kings by seven wickets on Sunday. Umran Malik starred with the ball for SRH as he returned with figures of 4-28. He had taken three wickets in the final over of PBKS innings.

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Liverpool Beat Manchester City 3-2 To Reach FA Cup Final

Liverpool reached the FA Cup final as Sadio Mane’s double inspired a 3-2 win over Manchester City that kept alive their quadruple bid and shattered their rivals’ treble hopes. Jurgen Klopp’s side is chasing an unprecedented clean-sweep of the four major trophies in a single season. They remain on course to achieve that incredible target after a scintillating first-half display in Saturday’s semi-final at Wembley. Ibrahima Konte put Liverpool ahead and Mane doubled their lead thanks to a blunder from City keeper Zack Steffen. Senegal forward Mane struck again before half-time and, although Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva netted after the interval, City was unable to complete a remarkable revival. Liverpool will make their first FA Cup final appearance since 2012 on May 14 when they face Chelsea or Crystal Palace, who meet in Sunday’s semi-final.

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9) Opinion

Common factors behind Pakistan & Sri Lanka’s economic collapse, paying for strongman hyper-populism

Shekhar Gupta looks at two of India’s neighbors — Pakistan and Sri Lanka and their crumbling economies. We look at the Pakistani economy’s performance since Imran Khan came to power, the suspension of the IMF program, and Sri Lanka’s major economic crisis amidst the political turmoil.

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The China factor: Why Sri Lanka economic meltdown should be a wake-up call for Malaysia

While Malaysia isn’t in a Sri Lanka-like situation, some reports suggest Kuala Lumpur should pay heed. As per the International Monetary Fund, crisis-hit Sri Lanka’s debt-to-GDP ratio was 119% in 2021. At the end of the last year, Malaysian govt debt stood at RM979.8 billion, or 63.4% of the nation’s GDP. Beijing’s debt-trap diplomacy – both Sri Lanka & Malaysia are a part of China’s Belt and Road initiative. Some reports state that Malaysian leaders should avoid big-ticket infra projects with low returns.

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Why the loss of the ‘Moskva’ is an operational and symbolic blow for Russia

On Thursday, April 14, Russia lost the most important ship of its Black Sea fleet deployed in the offensive launched against Ukraine on February 24: The cruiser Moskva (“Moscow,” in Russian). This ship was key to Russian operations due to its capacity to coordinate several ships at once. The Russian Ministry of Defense acknowledged, on Thursday evening, that it has sunk. Russia stated that the loss of its flagship was the result of “the detonation” of a stock of ammunition, caused by a “fire.” Tuesday morning, Moscow acknowledged that the ship was “severely damaged.” The Ukrainian side stated that it had hit the ship with missiles. The Moskva was what we call a cruiser. A type of very large ship (over 13,000 tons), 186 meters long, capable of coordinating operations and commanding several other ships at the same time. Hence its name of “flagship.” Only Russia, the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea currently have this type of ship. France, like other Western navies, does not have an equivalent ship.

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How India-US 2+2 summit shows strategic ties getting stronger despite Russia’s shadow

As India and the United States hold the 4th 2+2 ministerial summit, Shekhar Gupta reads into the statements from the American and Indian officials. What do the statements & conferences tell us about China, Russia, Ukraine, and the future of ties between the two countries?

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The merger of HDFC entities to increase M&A prominence among banks: Fitch

The proposed merger of HDFC Bank and HDFC Ltd could redefine the competitive landscape for banks, and increase the prominence of M&A among lenders seeking to close the market-share gap with the merged entity, Fitch Ratings said on Tuesday. Fitch believes that the proposed merger of the HDFC entities and the recently announced acquisition of Citibank India’s consumer business by Axis Bank could encourage banks to turn to M&A (merger and acquisition). “The proposed merger could redefine the competitive landscape for banks, and increase the prominence of M&A among banks seeking to close the market-share gap with the merged HDFC Bank. It could also influence the evolution of the NBFI sector, particularly for large entities that have nurtured banking ambitions amid tightening sector regulations,” Fitch said in a statement. Large non-bank financial institutions (NBFI) could be acquisition targets, given their higher-margin products, large pools of priority-sector customers and loans, and potential cross-selling opportunities.

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12 Crypto Scams & INR 72,000 Cr+ Lost: Why India’s Probes Into Biggest Crypto Scams Have Failed

Whether it is Bitconnect, GainBitcoin, or crypto scams, India is the hotbed of some of the biggest crypto crimes. But unlike what happened in the West, India’s pace of the investigation is extremely slow Some of these alleged scammers are serial crypto cons. For instance, Ranjeet Saxena was part of the GainBitcoin and Dekado scams, while Divyesh Darji was the mastermind behind Bitconnect Asia, Dekado, and Regalcoin. In India, whether it’s ED or state police, all these investigations have been so far focusing on proving whether the accused has done the crime and not on the injustice done to the victims. Will the Indian judiciary take note of such proactive measures to ensure justice is not denied to crypto scam victims?

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10) Weekly special

How a failed startup led these former Flipsters to launch the fintech platform PhonePe

The seeds of digital payments major PhonePe were sown in 2012 when Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari launched Flyte, a music downloading platform while working at Flipkart. Flipkart had ventured into the online music store business with the acquisition in 2011 of MIME360, a digital media distribution company founded by the duo. However, the venture didn’t pan out as expected and Flipkart had to shut down the business, owing to the lack of solutions for payments and micro-transactions. This time they wanted to build a product that had technology “not as the enabling function, but as the reason for existence”. Sameer and Rahul, along with Burzin Engineer, came up with the idea for PhonePe in 2015 and launched the app in 2016. Their experience at Flipkart, where they took on multiple roles, is what helped them build and grow PhonePe, helping them identify much larger markets.

For details visit here.

With that, we come to an end of our Weekly Current Affairs April 2022 -Week 3. Hope you have liked it. Write your feedback in the comments below and let us know if there is anything else you would like us to cover.

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