Blog for Stock tips, Equity tips, Commodity tips, Forex tips: Sharetipsinfo.com

A 100-year-old man from Brazil has earned a Guinness World Record for the longest career at the same company. Walter Orthmann has been working at a textile company for 84 years.

Orthmann was born in Brusque, a town with a large German population. As a teenager, he began working at Industrias Renaux S.A, which is now known as ReneauxView.

"Back in 1938, kids were expected to work to help support the family," Orthmann was quoted as saying by Guinness. "As the oldest son of five, my mother took me to find a job at the age of 14."

He started off as a shipping assistant and was soon promoted to a sales position. Eventually, he became a sales manager.

In his 50s, Orthmann began travelling across the country, discovering new places and fostering professional relationships that became friendly.

In his career spanning decades, Orthmann has witnessed many changes -- at home and abroad. That, he said, taught him that it was important to be adaptable.

Orthamann turned 100 on April 19 this year and his coworkers and family threw a big party to celebrate his life.

Reflecting on his long stint at the same place, Orthmann said when people do what they enjoy, they don't see the time go by.

His advice for young professionals is to work for good establishments, in areas where they feel motivated.

Orthmann said that he does not bother himself with too much planning or worrying about the future.

 "All I care about is that tomorrow will be another day in which I will wake up, get up, exercise and go to work; you need to get busy with the present, not the past or the future," he told Guinness. "Here and now is what counts. So, let’s go to work!"

India has asked state-run energy companies to evaluate the possibility of buying European oil major BP's stake in sanctions-hit Russian firm Rosneft, two people familiar with the matter said.

BP has announced it is abandoning its 19.75% stake in Rosneft.

The oil ministry last week conveyed its intent to ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petro Resources Ltd (BPRL), Hindustan Pertoleum's subsidiary Prize Petroleum Ltd, Oil India Ltd and GAIL (India) Ltd, the sources said.

Indian companies and the oil ministry did not respond to Reuters emails seeking comment.

While Western nations have imposed sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, India has not explicitly condemned Moscow's actions there.

The world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, India imports about 85% of its 5 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil needs.

The call on Indian companies to explore buying the stake in Rosneft came after BP CEO Bernard Looney met Indian oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri in March.

BP declined to comment.

Oil ministry also asked OVL, the overseas investment arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corp, to consider buying a 30% stake held by Exxon Mobile Corp, in the Sakhalin 1 project in Russia's Far East. Exxon is the operator of the project.

OVL already holds a 20% stake in the project.

Exxon said on March 1 it would exit about $4 billion in assets and discontinue all its Russia operations, including Sakhalin 1.

OVL also holds 26% stake in Vankorneft, owner of the Venkor field in the West Siberian Basin.

Separately, a consortium of Oil India, IOC, and BPRL, the exploration arm of state refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp, holds a 23.9% stake in Vankorneft and a 29.9% stake in Taas-Yuryakh in east Siberia.

One of the sources said Indian companies hope to get stakes in Russian assets at discounted rates given the risk involved, dubbing the potential transactions "distress sales".

A second source said Indian companies needed to study the impact of sanctions on potential investments and yet to start a process of due diligence.

"The fear is that this investment could get stuck in Russia as sanctions might bar us from bringing equity oil and gas to India."

"Our effort has been to see how we can stabilise economic transactions, economic engagements with Russia in the current context ... There are of course constraints, there are sanctions by some countries, and we will have to kind of work through that," India's foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a news conference.

Exxon said on Wednesday its Russian unit Exxon Neftegas Ltd has declared force majeure for its Sakhalin-1 operations due to sanctions on Russia that have made it increasingly difficult to ship crude to customers.

Also Read:- What will Elon Musk's ownership of Twitter mean for 'free speech' on the platform?

In a surprise capitulation, the board of Twitter has announced it will support a takeover bid by Elon Musk, the world’s richest person. But is it in the public interest?

Musk is offering US$54.20 a share. This values the company at US$44 billion (or A$61 billion) – making it one of the largest leveraged buyouts on record.

Morgan Stanley and other large financial institutions will lend him US$25.5 billion. Musk himself will put in around US$20 billion. This is about the size of a single bonus he is expected to receive from Tesla.

In a letter to the chair of Twitter, Musk claimed he would “unlock” Twitter’s “extraordinary potential” to be “the platform for free speech around the globe”.

But the idea that social media has the potential to represent an unbridled mode of public discourse is underpinned by an idealistic understanding that has surrounded social media technologies for some time.

In reality, Twitter being owned by one person, some of whose own tweets have been false, sexist, market-moving and arguably defamatory poses a risk to the platform’s future.

Can Twitter expect a total overhaul?

We see Musk’s latest move in a less-than-benign light, as it gives him unprecedented power and influence over Twitter. He has mused about making several potential changes to the platform, including:

reshuffling the current management, in which he says he doesn’t have confidence

adding an edit button on tweets

weakening the current content moderation approach - including through supporting temporary suspensions on users rather than outright bans, and

potentially moving to a “freemium” model similar to Spotify’s, whereby users can pay to avoid more intrusive advertisements.

Shortly after becoming Twitter’s largest individual shareholder earlier this month, Musk said “I don’t care about the economics at all”.

But the bankers who lent him US$25.5 billion to eventually acquire the platform probably do. Musk may come under pressure to lift Twitter’s profitability. He claims his top priority is free speech – but potential advertisers may not want their products featured next to an extremist rant.

In recent years, Twitter has implemented a range of governance and content moderation policies. For example, in 2020 it broadened its “definition of harm” to address COVID-19 content contradicting guidance from authoritative sources.

Twitter claims developments in its content moderation approach have been to “serve the public conversation” and address disinformation and misinformation. It also claims to respond to user experiences of abuse and general incivility users must navigate.

Taking a longer-term view, however, it seems Twitter’s bolstering of content moderation could be seen as an effort to save its reputation following extensive backlash.

Click Here:- Sharetipsinfo: Indian Stock Market Tips | Share Tips

 Musk’s ‘town square’ idea doesn’t hold up

Regardless of Twitter’s motivations Musk has openly challenged the growing number of moderation tools employed by the platform.

He has even labelled Twitter a “de facto public square”. This statement appears naïve at best. As communications scholar and Microsoft researcher Tarleton Gillespie argues, the notion that social media platforms can operate as truly open spaces is fantasy, given how platforms must moderate content while also disavowing this process.

Gillespie goes on to suggest platforms are obliged to moderate, to protect users from their antagonists, to remove offensive, vile, or illegal content and to ensure they can present their best face to new users, advertisers, partners, and the public more generally. He says the critical challenge then “is exactly when, how, and why to intervene”.

Platforms such as Twitter can’t represent “town squares” – especially as, in Twitter’s case, only a small proportion of the town is using the service.

Public squares are implicitly and explicitly regulated through social behaviours associated with relations in public, backed by the capacity to defer to an authority to restore public order should disorder arise. In the case of a private business, which Twitter now is, the final say will largely default to Musk.

Even if Musk were to implement his own town square ideal, it would presumably be a particularly free-wheeling version.

Providing users with more leeway in what they can say might contribute to increased polarity and further coarsen discourse on the platform. But this would again discourage advertisers – which would be an issue under Twitter’s current economic model (wherein 90% of revenue comes from advertising).

Free speech (but for all?)

Twitter is considerably smaller than other major social media networks. However, research has found it does have a disproportionate influence as tweets can proliferate with speed and virality, spilling over to traditional media.

The viewpoints users are exposed to are determined by algorithms geared towards maximising exposure and clicks, rather than enriching users’ lives with thoughtful or interesting points of view.

Musk has suggested he may make Twitter’s algorithms open source. This would be a welcome increase in transparency. But once Twitter becomes a private company, how transparent it is about operations will largely be up to Musk’s sole discretion.

Ironically, Musk has accused Meta (previously Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg of having too much control over public debate.

Yet Musk himself has a history of trying to stifle his critics’ points of view. There’s little to suggest his actions are truly to create an open and inclusive town square through Twitter — and less yet to suggest it will be in the public interest.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday took a dig at the Centre over the Rs 78,704 crore it owes to the states in GST compensation, saying it would be interesting to know why the Finance Ministry "embarrassed" Prime Minister Narendra Modi by putting out the information on the day he chose to "admonish" the states.

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday said the Centre has already released eight months of GST compensation dues to the states for the fiscal ended March 2022 and Rs 78,704 crore is pending due to inadequate balance in the cess fund.

On the day the prime minister exhorted states to cut the VAT rate on petrol and diesel, the Finance Ministry announced that the Centre owes Rs 78,704 crore to the states, Chidambaram said.

"The amount owed is actually more. If you add the amounts that the states claim are owed to them, the total amount may be bigger. Only the Controller of Government Accounts (CGA) can certify the correct amount," the former finance minister said on Twitter.

"It will be interesting to know why the MoF embarrassed the PM on the day he chose to admonish the States!" he said.

Flagging higher fuel prices in many opposition-ruled states, Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday called it "injustice" to people living there and urged the governments there to reduce VAT in "national interest" to benefit the common man.

Modi raised the issue of many states not adhering to the Centre's call for reducing the Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel after his government slashed excise duties on them in November last, and asked them to work in the spirit of cooperative federalism in this time of global crisis.

In UP, nearly 11,000 unauthorised loudspeakers had been removed from religious places and volume of another 35,000 was set to permissible limits Pradesh following a government order, a senior police official said on Wednesday.

UP’s Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar had said a statewide drive was being undertaken to remove unauthorised loudspeakers from religious places and set the volume of others within permissible limits.

Raj Thackeray on Thursday in a message on Twitter said, “I wholeheartedly congratulate and stand grateful to the Yogi government for having removed the loudspeakers from religious places, specially the masjids.” “Unfortunately in Maharashtra we don’t have any ‘yogis’; what we have are ‘bhogis’ (hedonists). Here’s hoping and praying good sense prevails..” the MNS chief added.

Raj Thackeray recently gave an ultimatum to the Maharashtra government to remove loudspeakers from religious places, especially mosques, in the state by May 3, which has led to a political row in the state over the issue.

Raj Thackeray had in the past showered praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and batted for his candidature for the PM’s post in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Indonesia, the world’s biggest edible oils shipper, will widen an export ban to include crude palm oil, adding to uncertainty in a market that’s suffered dizzying price swings and threatening to worsen global food inflation.

The ban will be expanded to crude palm oil, RBD palm oil and used cooking oil, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said at a briefing Wednesday. A day earlier, he said the halt would only apply to palm olein. The policy will start on April 28 and last until domestic cooking oil prices ease.

Indonesia’s export policy has sent the palm oil industry into a tailspin. Prices have been whipsawed, rising one moment as the lack of details from the initial statement had traders fearing that the ban would cover all products, then slumping the next as details emerged that the move would be restricted to certain refined goods. Futures rallied 10% just before the latest announcement.

It is another example of a policy flip-flop that has raised concerns about Indonesia’s business image. The country is a major commodities supplier and had imposed restrictions on nickel and coal exports in the past. Speculation about what Indonesia may do next keeps the industry constantly on its toes.

Palm oil is processed and shipped in different forms. The fleshy, red fruits of the oil palm tree are crushed to produce crude palm oil. The product can be refined, bleached and deodorized to remove impurities. With further processing, palm olein is produced, which is the most widely used cooking oil in the world. The non-edible oils are used to make biodiesel and soap.The move by Indonesia, which accounts for a third of global edible oil exports, adds to a raft of crop protectionism around the world since the war in Ukraine erupted, as governments seek to protect their own food supply with agriculture prices surging. The ban threatens to further fan food inflation, which has been surging at a rampant pace, and raises the risk of a full-blown hunger crisis.

“Now we will enter the new bullish era where edible oil shortages will increase globally,” said Abdul Hameed, director of sales at Manzoor Trading in Pakistan. “Many countries will have to rely on their own crops and use domestic resources. There could be more crop protectionism happening.”

“Once the local need is fulfilled, surely I will revoke this export ban because I understand how the government needs taxes, needs overseas earnings, and needs a trade surplus,” said the president, known as Jokowi. “The people’s need is a more important priority.”

Coming down hard on Opposition-ruled states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said some states did not reduce VAT on petrol and diesel despite the excise duty cut by the Centre last November and had done "injustice" to the people by not transferring the benefits of the move to them.

Speaking at an interaction with chief ministers on the emerging COVID-19 situation in the country, Modi said he wanted to flag a separate issue of the challenges being faced by the people due to the global situation.

"The situation of war which has arisen, has affected the supply chain, and in such an environment, the challenges are increasing day by day," Modi said in an apparent reference to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"This global crisis is bringing many challenges. In such a situation, it has become imperative to further enhance the spirit of cooperative federalism and coordination between the Centre and states," he said.

Flagging the issue of high prices of petrol and diesel, Modi said the Centre had reduced excise duty to reduce the burden of prices of petrol and diesel on the people last November.

He said the Centre had urged states to reduce taxes and transfer the benefit to the citizens.

"Some states reduced taxes but some states did not give any benefit of this to the people. Due to this, the prices of petrol and diesel in these states continue to remain high. In a way, this is not only injustice to the people of these states but it also has an impact on neighbouring states," he said.

Many states such as Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu for some reason or the other did not listen to the central government and the citizens of those states continued to be burdened, he said.

"I request that what should have been done in November, you should pass on the benefit to the citizens by reducing VAT," Modi said.

Also Read:- India's retail industry to reach $2 trillion by 2032: Report

As the country recovers from the pandemic, the retail industry has resumed its growth trajectory and is likely to witness 10 per cent annual growth to reach approximately $2 trillion by 2032, according to a report.

According to a BCG-RAI report titled "Racing towards the next wave of Retail in India”, while certain industry segments like food and grocery, restaurants and Quick service restaurant (QSR), and consumer durables have recovered to pre-COVID levels, others like jewellery and accessory, apparel, and footwear remain on track to a full recovery.

"The Indian economy continues to be driven by consumption and we are observing that consumption growth is back in the positive territory after the two-year COVID pause,” BCG Managing Director and Senior Partner Abheek Singhi said.

Noting that India’s retail industry will grow to approx $2 trillion in the next 10 years, Singhi said "the next decade will see organised retailers focus on footprint expansion, across all formats – offline and online – to fuel future growth”.

As per the report India’s consumption, which was growing at approximately 12 per cent pre-pandemic, went into negative territory during the pandemic but has now recovered to surpass pre-pandemic growth levels at 17 per cent.

E-commerce in the country is expected to reach $130 billion by 2026, as compared to $45 billion in 2021, according to the report.

"The rising competition and the need for constantly improving the customer value proposition is driving the rise of ecosystems and the customers are approached by players across retail and non-retail. We are seeing examples of this trend already in India and is expected to significantly transform the entire landscape in the future,” added Rachit Mathur, Managing Director and Partner, Consumer & Retail Practice, BCG.

The report is an in-depth study of retail players in the country, identifying challenges in the prevailing environment and highlighting emerging trends and models that can potentially shape the future of retail.