Bandhavgarh’s ‘most beautiful tigress’ found dead, dumped in well

Bandhavgarh’s “most beautiful tigress” has been found dead, stuffed in a sack and dumped in a well in the buffer zone of the tiger reserve.

Tigress T32—a photographer’s delight and such a familiar sight that locals gave it a nickname—was already decomposing when its carcass was found, weighed down by two large stones. The magnificent stripes that made it popular stood out even in death and decay.

“There were deep wounds on its face. The exact cause of death has not been ascertained, but we will get those involved,” Bandhavgarh tiger reserve field director Vincent Rahim said.

The facial wounds seem to have been inflicted by an axe, said officials; perhaps a failed attempt at extracting the fangs. All body organs are intact. “It is possible that the tigress fell victim to electric wire traps laid by poachers for game meat. There is another wound on its face which seems to be made by a spear,” said an officer.

T32 was14 years old and had delivered nine cubs in three litters in 2011, 2013 and 2015.

IMF drawing rights to boost forex by $18bn

The country’s foreign exchange reserves will be bumped up by $18 billion with the International Monetary Fund allocating additional Special Drawing Rights to India. The country’s forex reserves stood at $617 billion as of August 20, buoyed by strong inflows of foreign investment. Economists expect the reserves to increase further as the RBI continues to purchase dollars.

The IMF has allocated SDR of 12.6 billion, which is equivalent to $17.9 billion on August 23, 2021. The total SDR holdings of India now stands at 13.7 billion (equivalent to around $19.4 billion at the latest exchange rate) as of August 23, 2021. This increase in SDR holdings will be reflected in the foreign exchange reserves data that shall be published for the week ended August 27, 2021.

IMF makes the general SDR allocation to its members in proportion to their existing quotas in the fund. The IMF board had approved a general allocation of about SDR 456 billion on August 2, 2021 (effective from August 23), of which the share of India is SDR 12.6 billion. Since the SDR is like a cheap credit line, it does not have an impact on the RBI balance sheet although it does add to the reserves.

August 2021: GST kitty stays above ₹1L cr

Goods and services tax collections dipped around 4% to Rs 1.12 lakh crore in August, compared to Rs 1.16 lakh crore in the previous month, but policymakers and experts remained upbeat about revenues remaining strong in the coming months on account of improved economic activity.

Last month’s mop-up, based on sales in July, was nearly 30% higher than last year when the economy had just begun to open up after a nationwide lockdown and 14% higher than the corresponding period in 2019. Barring June, when most states had imposed local lockdowns due to the second wave, the monthly GST kitty stayed above the Rs 1- lakh-crore comfort level.

The GST Council will be meeting in Lucknow on September 17, where a compensation formula for states and inverted duty structure are expected to top the agenda.

Although the drop on a sequential basis came as a surprise, most experts too shared the optimism. 

M S Mani, senior director at Deloitte, said there is seasonality in GST collections as it is transaction based, which is dependent on consumer behaviour. 

At a disaggregated level, barring imported goods that are subject to cess, collections went up compared to August 2019, official data showed.

Some economists, however, advised caution. 

Separatist Syed Ali Geelani Dead

Pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani died in Srinagar on Wednesday, officials said. Geelani, 92, was not well for the past few days and was undergoing treatment. While official confirmation was awaited, sources said Geelani breathed his last at the Hyderpora residence. His burial is likely to take place in Sopore on Thursday. The J&K Police is making elaborate security arrangements for the funeral.

Monsoon till August below normal, to pick up: IMD

Monsoon rainfall from June 1 till August 31 has shown a deficiency of 9 per cent compared to the long period average while the monthly rainfall over the country as a whole during September 2021 is most likely to be above normal, said the Indian Meteorological Department on Wednesday.

Announcing the forecast for September over the country, IMD director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said the rainfall average over the country as a whole during September 2021 is most likely to be above normal, that is more than 110 per cent of the LPA.

The LPA of rainfall for September is nearly 170 mm and is based on the data between 1961 and 2010.

Northwest India and central India witnessed a deficit of -14 per cent, east and northeast India witnessed a deficit of -8 per cent while southern peninsular India witnessed 8 per cent more rainfall compared to normal.

Much of the total season’s deficit was due to the deficient rainfall in August, the IMD data showed.

“Considering the expected above normal rainfall activity during September 2021, the current deficiency of 9 per cent in seasonal rainfall during June to August is very likely to reduce and accumulated seasonal rainfall during June 1 to September 30 is expected to be around the lower end of normal,” Mohapatra said.

The spatial distribution of probabilistic forecasts for tercile categories (above normal, normal, and below normal) for the September rainfall forecast suggests that above normal to normal rainfall is likely over many areas of central India; normal to below normal rainfall is most likely over many areas of northwest and northeast India and southernmost parts of peninsular India, he added.

Since 1901 during the monsoon season, there were 23 years when there were negative IOD conditions (Indian Ocean Dipole, a condition arising out of the difference between sea surface temperatures at different places in the Indian Ocean). Of the 23 negative IOD years, in six years (26 per cent) each, southwest monsoon saw deficient rainfall and excess rainfall category, the IMD director general said.

BCCI Floats Tender to Invite Bids for 2 New IPL Teams

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has started the process to introduce two new franchises in the next season of the Indian Premier League.

The IPL governing council invited bids for franchises by floating an invitation to tender. Interested parties can buy the ITT for a non-refundable fee of ₹10 lakh (plus taxes) till October 5.

The ITT will contain details of the terms and conditions and eligibility criteria for the new team owners.

While the BCCI has not officially announced a base price for the new teams, a source in the board said that it will be kept at ₹1,700 crore.

Ahmedabad and Lucknow are the two cities with the most interest. Other cities, which may see some bids, include Nagpur, Guwahati, Raipur, Visakhapatnam and Cuttack. “Given the way the media rights were sold last time, there is anticipation that the IPL rights will once again see a significant jump, which will directly add to team owners’ coffers,” said a sports marketing expert.

Dalal Street Stays Hot

The bullish momentum in Indian equities that catapulted the Nifty above17,000 and the Sensex past 57,000 for the first time ever on Tuesday could last a while.

The optimism stems from the sharp record-breaking run in the markets in the past two days after the US Federal Reserve’s dovish stance on tapering of bond purchases alleviated concerns of aggressive liquidity tightening.

On Tuesday, the NSE Nifty rose 201.15 points or 1.19% to close at 17,132.20. The BSE Sensex gained 662.63 points or 1.16% to end at 57,552.39. Both indices have gained about 2.5% this week so far, shrugging off recent concerns about markets being overheated.

All the poll participants recommended holding 60-70% of investor money in equities. Fund managers said large caps are likely to outperform mid and small-cap shares in the months ahead.

Till July, small and midcap stocks performed better than blue chips, buoyed by a flood of retail investor money. That’s reversed in August with many smaller shares witnessing a sharp sell-off. The Sensex gained 9.2% in August. The MidCap index moved up 3.3% and the SmallCap index declined nearly 0.5% during the month, while many smaller stocks have fallen at least 20-30% from their highs in July.

Since January, the Sensex has run up almost 20.2%, while the MidCap index is up 31% and the SmallCap index has gained 47%.

The Nifty is trading at an estimated price to earnings ratio of 21.5 times, which is at a 68% premium to emerging markets, the highest in the last 10 years, said Nomura in a recent note.