Muslim League is virus, Congress infested with it: Yogi Adityanath

Kochi, May 28: In these pandemic times, when the businesses are gravely affected and the MSMEs are particularly feeling the heat, a Kerala institute has come up with an initiative to help the distressed industry. The Institute of Small Enterprises and Development (ISED) has come out with a unique platform -- 'business clinic' for extending advisory services to the COVID-19 affected MSMEs in the state.

The Kochi based ISED's multi-disciplinary team of experts will offer free guidance to entrepreneurs to make a self-evaluation for improving their performance.

It will serve the interests of the MSMEs, entrepreneurial aspirants, such as the returning migrants, start-ups, educated unemployed, and women entrepreneurs.

ISED director, PM Mathew said COVID-19 pandemic has shattered the budgets and operations of most SMEs, globally, as also in India.

"Post-lockdown, the operational problems are likely to get aggravated. Beyond the broad macro level projections and debates, it is now time to act at the grassroots level. Many entrepreneurs need appropriate clinical assessment, and moral and psychological support, said Mathew.

According to the work force participation data at the national level, Kerala is ranked 31 in terms of the number of self employed, and placed in second rank in relation to the size of casual labour.

The Kerala Enterprise Development Report, brought out by the ISED states while the number of the unregistered enterprises is sizeable, constituting 76.85 % of the total, the respective share of registered MSMEs is only 9.53 %.

The constraints to these enterprises today are, poor sales, large inventory, delayed payments, damage of stock, wage bill arrears, unreliable labour supplies, fund diversion due to exigencies, GST related problems, and NPA/poor credit score.

"For all businesses, unlike in a sporadic recession in the economy, the danger today is circular and cumulative. Both from the demand side, and the supply angle, there is a serious contraction of business activities, which essentially means a glut in the cash flow. Corporate businesses, obviously, will come out of the mess due to their relative advantages of high reserve funds, liberal credit offerings, and easier access to alternative sources of finance," said Mathew.

Kochi, Jul 11: Johnny Paul Pierce's five-month stay in Kerala has been a soul-soothing experience for 74-year-old US citizen. He now wants to spend the rest of his life here.

"Kerala is a beautiful place to live in. This is my fifth trip here. I usually stay here for six months. It is such a magical place to be and I want to share that with people from the US," Pierce told ANI.

He came to India on February 26 on a tourist visa and is staying at Kandanadu in Kochi.

According to Pierce's Advocate, his tourist visa is valid up to January 26, 2025. But on this visa, he can only stay consecutively for 180 days.

The guidelines of the Indian government permit continuous stay for only 180 days for foreigners on tourist visas. His 180 days were set to expire on August 24, which the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) extended to August 30.

The US citizen has approached the Kerala High Court seeking to convert his tourist visa into a business visa. The petition will be considered next week.

Pierce has sought a directive to the government to permit him to apply for the conversion of his tourist visa into a business visa and also to extend his stay, without having to leave the country.

"I am making a petition for an extra 180 days to stay. And I would also like to get a business visa in order to begin a tour company to bring people from the US to Kerala after the coronavirus. I wish my family could also come here. I am very impressed with what's is happening here. People in the US don't care about COVID-19," he said.

He talked about the risk of going back to his home country saying, "There are only 27 deaths in Kerala and in the US there over 1.3 lakh deaths. I do not want to go back to the US. I am 74 years old and I am at risk. This is a very safe place for me. I hope India embraces and allows me to stay."

"There's chaos in the US due to COVID-19 and government is not taking care like India. I want to stay here," he added.

Pierce further talked about his future plans, saying that if he is allowed to stay, he would like to lease a small resort and make a retirement community, which will be a COVID free zone.

Lastly, he made an appeal to the Indian government to let him stay in India saying that "all the immigration rules were made before COVID-19."

"There should be special consideration for people like me," he added.

Washington, Jul 18: The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from the US to India has crossed the $40 billion mark so far this year, reflecting the growing confidence of American companies in the country, the head of an India-centric business advocacy group has said.

The American companies, during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has battered the world economy, have shown great confidence in India and its leadership, said Mukesh Aghi, president of the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), which keeps a track of the major US FDIs in India.

“Year to date investment from the US, including the recent ones, is over $40 billion,” Aghi said.

In recent weeks alone, the announcement of the FDI into India has been over $20 billion, he said, referring to the announcements made by some of the top companies like Google, Facebook and Walmart.

“Investors’ confidence in India is high. India still remains a very promising market for global investors. If you look at the $20 billion… not just the US, but (investment) has also come from other geographies such as the Middle East and the Far East.

“So, India still remains a very, very bullish market for the investor community,” Aghi said in response to a question.

The USISPF has been working with New Delhi to bring in FDI into India… playing a key role in encouraging American companies planning to move their bases out of China, he said, adding that the move was going on in the last three years of the Trump administration, but gained momentum during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We feel that Prime Minister (Narendra Modi’s) intention is very high. The challenges lie on the execution side. Efforts are being made to encourage manufacturing… I've never seen it so better. The policy framework is moving in the right direction,” he said.

Early this week, Larry Kudlow, the White House Economic Advisor, told reporters that the US tech giants like Google and Facebook announcing big investments in India shows that people are losing trust in China and India is emerging as a big competitor.

At the same time, he rued that India continues to be a protectionist country.

“The question is how do you define protectionism... the administration here is saying America first and India is saying vocal for local…,” Aghi added.