Morning Scan: All the big stories to get you started for the day

A round-up of the biggest articles from newspapers.

Centre seeks information to increase sops for IT hardware

The Centre is looking at increasing the scope of the production-linked incentive scheme for the IT hardware sector beyond ₹7,325 crore, The Economic Times reports.

Why it’s important: The government is asking for fresh estimates from the sector of its production, exports and the nature of value addition for the purpose.

The industry is asking to double the outlay of the scheme and an increase in the rate of sops to 5%.

Rural internet data usage up 4 times

The consumption of internet data in rural areas has jumped 4 times, or by 400%, in the past year, The Economic Times reports.

Why it’s important: It shows India is digitally well-connected and the internet penetration is catching up at high speed.

Various initiatives like high-speed broadband connections, Wi-Fi hotspots and fibre-to-home connections in villages helped this fete.

Data consumption through the BharatNet optic fibre in around 1,00,000 panchayats has surpassed 13,000 TB till June from 6,000 TB in 2020 and 300-400 TB in July 2019.

This is important in bridging the digital divide and can help people in the hinterland with educational, digital payments and other informational content such as weather.

July gives life back to consumer companies with a huge jump in sales

The sales of consumer goods increased manifold in July after the second wave of the covid-induced lockdown across the country, reports The Economic Times.

Why it’s important: Many of the producers registered their best-ever numbers for the month.

The main reasons for the increase are the lifting of lockdowns, demand ahead of the festive season, positive sentiments and pent-up demands.

Rural areas are driving up the sales of FMCG sector.

Rural markets have almost opened with 90 to 95 per cent of shops are functioning now and a favourable monsoon also helped the demand.

For consumer electronics firms July was the best-ever in terms of sales with growth of 20-50% from a year-ago period.

Over 32 lakh salaried people lost jobs in July

Around 32 lakh salaried people lost their jobs last month even after the decline of the second wave of Covid, reports Mint.

What it shows: Though the economic activities are getting better after the lockdown, the structural weakness remains in core sectors.

The job loss is high in urban areas with 2.6 million.

It shows that the creation of employment in the formal sector is still lagging and the recovery in the job market remains weak.

Demand environment is good, says HCL’s new head

Vijayakumar CEO & MD, HCL Technologies in an interview with Mint talked about his new responsibilities and said that Shiv Nadar will always be available for advice, consultation and guidance.

What he says: The corporate sector is in the early stages of digital transformation now leveraging the power of artificial intelligence and big data and all of that.

The focus now is to take it to the next level of migration to the cloud, industrial IoT, and industry 4.0 which deals with connected factories and smart manufacturing.

Those will open up new opportunities.

The demand environment is good and the momentum will continue for some time.

IRCTC and BHEL likely to run private trains

The IRCTC and BHEL are looking at possibilities to run private trains jointly, reports Business Standard.

Why it’s important: The two PSUs may form an SPV to run passenger trains on routes for which IRCTC has put in bids.

The money will come from BHEL for the rail service.

The IRCTC will provide operational requirements for the private train services.

‘We’ll invest in companies that reflect India’s growth potential'

Singaporean investor Temasek’s deputy managing director in India Promeet Ghosh in an interview with Business Standard tells that they are optimistic about India’s long-term prospects.

What he says: Temasek is looking to continue increasing India exposure.

They remain optimistic about India’s long-term growth potential and will continue to invest in companies that reflect this.

The underlying trends of formalisation and consolidation have been further accentuated over the last one and a half years during the pandemic.

India’s PE landscape remains robust.

And it is driven by surges in edtech, fintech, e-commerce and IT sectors that benefitted from digitisation.

‘Now, we are stepping into the future and establishing a stronger connection with the youth’

Dinesh Thakkar, chairman and managing director, Angel Broking, tells Business Standard in an interview that the digital environment is set to bring in a lot of new entrants in the broking industry.

What he says: Angel has always been focused on using the best technology for optimal customer experience.

Now, firm’s all processes have been overhauled and digitised.

This helped Angel to reach clients in tier-2 and 3 cities and beyond.

“Now, we are stepping into the future and establishing a stronger connection with the youth, Generation Z, and millennials, by offering them our bouquet of digital financial products and services.”

The digital environment is set to attract a lot of new players, especially those who offer services on mobile apps.

Several States see a jump in Covid cases

Now, it’s clear that Covid cases are on the rise again not just in Kerala or the Northeast, reports the Times of India.

Why it’s important: 13 States posted a rise in coronavirus cases in the last week when Tamil Nadu saw no dip in its cases.

Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and J&K logged the maximum jump in fresh cases during the July 26-August 1 period.

All these States had been registering a decrease in infections till the week before last.

Kerala’s weekly surge was by far the highest with a 27% jump.

Hope in Maharashtra: As a major relief, the worst-hit Maharashtra posted an 11% dip in new cases, the steepest percentage fall in six weeks.