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MARKET DATA

• BSE SENSEX : ₹59,119.72 (-0.57%)

• NIFTY 50 : ₹17,629.80 (-0.50%)

• NIFTY BANK : ₹40,630.60 (-1.39%)

• USD/INR : ₹81.02 (+1.23%)

• BRENTOIL : $90.51 (+0.76%)

• MCXGOLD : ₹49995.00 (+1.12%)

• FII Net Cashflow : - ₹2510 crores

• DII Net Cashflow : + ₹263 crores

(Market data as of 11:00 PM on 22nd September 2022)

ECONOMY

Over Rs 58,000 crore in taxes lost due to illicit trade in FMCG, mobile, tobacco, alcohol industry

The Story:

The Central government is estimated to have lost as much as Rs 58,521 crore in taxes in 2019-20 due to illicit trade in goods in 5 key industries.

A FICCI report, by FICCI's Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy (CASCADE), has identified FMCG, mobile phone, tobacco products and alcohol as the most affected industries- with the size of illicit markets in these industries at a little over Rs 2.60 lakh crore for the year 2019-20.

The FMCG industry alone accounted for 75% of the total illicit value of goods in five key industries. Tobacco products and alcoholic beverages- two highly regulated industries - account for nearly 49% of the overall tax loss in these industries.

The maximum number of jobs (7.94 lakh) were lost due to illicit trade in the FMCG packaged foods industry, followed by tobacco industry (3.7 lakh), FMCG household and personal goods industry (2.989 lakh), alcoholic beverages industry (97,000), and mobile phone industry (35,000).

RETAIL

IKEA infuses ₹850 crore into India unit

Key Facts:

• IKEA has infused ₹850 crore in its India entity

• The fund infusion received is part of the ₹10,500 crore announced initially

• India is in IKEA’s top 10 markets

The Story:

The fund infusion into its India subsidiary was made through two entities of Ingka Pro Holding BV, The Netherlands and Ingka Holding Overseas BV, The Netherlands, according to Registrar of Companies (RoC) data accessed by business intelligence platform, Tofler. The capital infusion comes at a time when IKEA is expanding its stores in India. In July, IKEA rolled out its second city centre and relatively smaller format in Mumbai.

The 72,000 sq ft store located in R City Mall is IKEA’s first store in a mall in India. Prior to that IKEA had opened its first smaller store in the range of 80,000 sq ft in Worli, Mumbai. In June, IKEA , the world’s leading Swedish home furnishings retailer, had opened its maiden store in Bengaluru, located at Nagasandra and its third big box outlet in India after Hyderabad and Mumbai. Ingka Group has also announced that it would invest Rs 7,500 crore to develop in the NCR two Ingka Centres, large retail destinations that would house other brands and retailers apart from IKEA.

INDUSTRY

Pfizer to supply up to 6 mln COVID pill courses for lower income countries

The Story:

Pfizer Inc said on Thursday it would supply up to 6 million courses of its COVID-19 antiviral treatment to NGO Global Fund for low- and middle-income countries that seeks to address worldwide disparities in COVID response.

The company said Paxlovid treatment courses will be available for procurement through Global Fund's COVID-19 Response Mechanism to 132 low- and middle-income countries this year, subject to local regulatory clearances.

While Paxlovid is widely available in many rich countries, availability has been severely restricted in poorer ones. Pfizer said the supply agreement is part of its strategy to facilitate equitable access to oral COVID treatments.

The Global Fund is part of the Access to COVID-19 Accelerator partnership (ACT-A), an effort by governments and non-governmental organizations including the World Health Organization to procure tests, treatments, and vaccines for lower income countries.

TECH

Tesla sensors not fine, recalls more than a 1 million US cars

Key Facts :

• Worldwide car sales grew to around 66.7 million automobiles in 2021, up from around 63.8 million units in 2020.

• Tesla was the best-selling electric vehicle brand in 2020, Followed by BYD

The Story :

The world's largest electric-vehicle manufacturer has had repeated run-ins with federal safety regulators, whom chief executive Elon Musk calls "the fun police".

Documents produced by American regulators show the windows may not react correctly after detecting an obstruction. Tesla discovered the problem with the automatic windows during production testing in August.

Company documents indicate vehicles made after 13 September already have the updated software needed to remedy the issue. Tesla said it was not aware of any warranty claims, crashes, injuries, or deaths related to the recall.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it is a safety standards violation. Tesla says a software update will fix the problem.

Owners will be notified by letter, from15 November.

Elon Musk will reveal human-sized Optimus ‘butler robot’ in 10 DAYS – and says it’s ‘cheaper than a car’

Want More Bits?

In an old tomb in Egypt, archaeologists found numerous blocks of white cheese that were older than 2,600 years. According to accounts, the team discovered three Halloumi moulds within clay jars at the Saqqara necropolis that were inscribed with Demotic script.

In an old tomb in Egypt, archaeologists found numerous blocks of white cheese that were older than 2,600 years. Halloumi cheese was referred to as "Haram" by the ancient Egyptians. But during the Coptic era, the word was changed to "Haloum," which later became "Halloumu cheese," according to Dr. Mustafa Waziri.

"It is noteworthy that the Egyptian archaeological mission started working at the site in 2018, and through its last five excavation seasons, they have managed to uncover the special tomb of the fifth family priest "Wahati," as well as seven rock tombs, including three modern state tombs and four tombs from the Old Wullah, and cemetery front from the old country," the ministry of tourism and antiques had stated.