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West Bengal men hammer Kerala 5-0 to clinch gold

National Games football: West Bengal men hammer Kerala 5-0 to clinch gold.

The southern outfit looked in control, though they did not have any real shot on goal to show for their effort, till West Bengal found the net against the run of play in the 16th minute…reports Asian Lite News

West Bengal punished pre-tournament favourites Kerala for their defensive lapses to clinch the men’s football gold medal with a 5-0 victory at the Eka Arena TransStadia here on Tuesday.

West Bengal skipper Naro Hari Shrestha scored a hattrick while Surajit Handsa and Amit Chakraborty chipped in with a goal each to help the former India striker Biswajit Bhattacharya-coached side take total control of the match before the end of the first half.

Kerala had come into the final with an all-win record in the group stage and a comfortable semifinal victory over Karnataka and started the summit clash with confidence.

The southern outfit looked in control, though they did not have any real shot on goal to show for their effort, till West Bengal found the net against the run of play in the 16th minute.

Kerala defender Sanju G. was guilty of not trapping the back pass and Surajit Handsa capitalised on the loose ball to take a shot from the right. Goalkeeper Midhun V. managed to block the low strike but Robi Handsa was in a position to tap in on the rebound.

Kerala then started exerting more pressure on the opposition half and had one of the best chances of the day three minutes later. Bengal goalkeeper Raja Burman’s clearance barely crossed the box and fell in Ajeesh P’s feet. But the midfielder couldn’t connect cleanly while trying to hit the ball on the first attempt.

Two minutes later, Bujair Valiyattu was then guilty of hitting the ball over the crossbar from inside the six-yard box after a melee at the goal line.

West Bengal captain Naro Hari Shrestha then added to Kerala’s misery when he quickly collected the ball bouncing off the Kerala wall and unleashed a scorcher from 25-yard to beat the Kerala custodian at the left corner.

At the stroke of half-time, Sanju once again was guilty of not trapping Surajit Hansda’s cross from the left despite no Bengal striker anywhere near him inside the box. Shrestha gleefully pounced on the error to virtually seal the fate of the match.

Shrestha completed his hat-trick with the easiest of headers in the 52nd minute after a West Bengal counterattack. Left-back Totan Das overlapped inside the Kerala box and chipped the ball over the goalkeeper for their unmarked skipper to nod it in, the organisers informed in a release on Tuesday.

Kerala had better possession thereafter but the West Bengal defence stood tall and did not allow their opponent’s put enough balls inside the box to create any quality scoring opportunities.

Defender Amit Chakraborty then rounded off the tally, finishing a short pass move from the midfield by placing the ball to the right of the advancing Kerala goalkeeper in the 85th minute.

In the bronze medal play-off, Services defeated Karnataka 4-0. Sunil B (2nd), N Sureh Metei (7th), Sreyas VG (13th) and Liton Shil (57th) scored for Services.

Result:

Final: West Bengal 5 (Robi Handsa 16th min, Naro Hari Shrestha 30th, 45+, 52nd, Amit Chakraborty 85th) bt Kerala 0

Bronze medal play-off: Service 4 (Sunil B 2nd, N Sureh Metei 7th, Sreyas VG 13th, Liton Shil 57th) bt Karnataka 0

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Dubai Lite Blogs

‘Celebrate Diwali in the City of Gold’

How Indian jewellery market will adapt with the pandemic.

To make the festive season even more memorable, DJG is also bringing a raffle, where AED 150,000 are up for grabs in jewellery vouchers…reports Asian Lite News

With Diwali around the corner, Dubai Jewellery Group (DJG), the trade body for the jewellery industry in association with Dubai Festivals & Retail Establishment (DFRE) is putting up an exciting line-up of activities and retail promotions as part of the latest edition of its ‘Celebrate Diwali in the City of Gold’ campaign.

Running over three weeks starting 7 October, DJG is elevating the festival of lights by offering a plethora of deals on fine gold and diamond jewellery and discounts on making charges at over 158 outlets across 67 leading brands—giving residents the opportunity to make a statement this Diwali.

Customers will also be treated with free gifts at select outlets in keeping with the festive fervour! But the fun doesn’t end there. To make the festive season even more memorable, DJG is also bringing a raffle, where AED 150,000 are up for grabs in jewellery vouchers. 

Commenting on the 2021 edition of the Diwali campaign, Laila Suhail, Chairperson – Marketing Committee, Dubai Jewellery Group, said, “At DJG, we are driven by the vision to create highly compelling retail experiences that continue to draw shoppers from not just the UAE but all over the world. In this context, we are proud to launch our new Diwali campaign for our patrons. Through this innovative campaign, we want to help customers take their celebration up a notch and make a statement.” 

The full list of offers includes: 

  • Bling it on! 

When it comes to diamonds, it’s a no-brainer—everyone loves the sparkle. For all diamond lovers, up to a 50% discount is available on select diamond jewellery designs.

  • Get the Golden Glow

Take advantage of the 50% discount on making charges on select jewellery collections and make the most of your festival shopping 

  • Bag the freebies 

Several participating outlets will be giving away free gifts with gold and diamond jewellery purchases. Get your hands on the choiciest watches, pearls and gold coins.

Participating jewellery brands this Diwali include Titan Global Tetail, Lifestyle LLC, Memories Golden Jewellery, Annaka, Shafiqa  Jewellery, Jewel Star, Jawhara Jewellery, Indus Jewellers, Khushi Jewellery, Jewel Clouds Jewellery, Al Hind Jewellers, Azhar Al Madina Jewellery, Al Manzil Kewellery, Al Hind Gold, Joyalukkas, Bafleh Jewellery, Guru Jewellers, Anaswara jewellery, Elite Jewellery Co., Chittilappilly Jewellers, Meena Jewellers, Al Kanz Jewellery, Yasin Jewellery, Sky Jewellery, Bhima Jewellers, Zaiba -Mfar Jewellers, Mohammed Al Ansari Jewellery, Malabar Gold, Maha Al Sibai Jewellery, Siroya Jewellers, Mega Star Jewellers, Shingar Jewellers, Chemmanur Jewellers, Satyam Jewellers, Khushboo Jewels, PNG Jewellers, Arakkal Gold & Diamonds, Sushila Jewellers Trading, Chungath Jewellery, NRI Jewellery, Kannattu Silsila jewellery, shreya jewellers, la marquise diamonds & watches, kashyap jewellery, popley kewalram Kewellers, JJ&Sons, Omera Gold, Beena Suru Jewellery, Kundan Kala Jewellery, Maison De Ary Jewellery, Azyan Gold and Diamonds, Sona Gold & Diamonds, Al Liali Jewellery, Thangals Jewellery, Asian Gold, Vijaya Jewellery, Best Price Jewellery Trading, Trichy Gold Trading, Sila Jewels, Nakshathra Jewellery, Boby Chemmanur International Jewellery, Chemmanur International Jewellers and Ain Gold and Diamonds.

For information regarding the list of participating retailers, draw date and venues, kindly visit: www.dubaicityofgold.com

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India News UK News

Sindhu wins maiden gold at Commonwealth

 On Monday, Sindhu started well and took an early lead in the first game, moving Michelle around with precise strokes. She was aggressive and made very few unforced errors…reports Asian Lite News

India’s PV Sindhu claimed her maiden women’s singles gold medal in the Commonwealth Games defeating Michelle Li of Canada, the 2014 champion at Glasgow, in the final in straight games here on Monday.

Sindhu played aggressively, controlled the rallies well and did not give her opponent many chances as she won 21-15, 21-13 in the final at the show court in Hall No. 5 at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).

“I was waiting for this gold for a long time, so I am super happy,” said Sindhu in her on-court comments after raising her fist to acknowledge the sparse crowd.

This is Sindhu’s second medal of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games after winning a silver in the Mixed Team competition. She had won gold and silver in Gold Coast.

This year, Sindhu had won the Syed Modi International for the second time in January and then claimed the 2022 Swiss Open, defeating Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the final in straight games. She then won the Singapore Open title, beating Asian champion Wang Zhiyi of China in the final. In between, she also won bronze in the Badminton Asia Championships.

On Monday, Sindhu started well and took an early lead in the first game, moving Michelle around with precise strokes. She was aggressive and made very few unforced errors.

Sindhu went up 3-1 and maintained her lead throughout the game and though Michelle caught up with her at 5-5, Sindhu surged ahead again and always maintained a 2-3 points advantage. She went into the break at 11-8, mixing her smashes and half-smashes with disguised drop shots to keep the Canadian world No 13 — the 2014 women’s singles champion at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games — on the back foot and struggling to keep up.

The Canadian played a superb cross-court smash but made an unforced error playing a tight drop, and that remained her story in the entire match.

Sindhu extended the lead to 18-14 and had her first game point at 20-15 which she converted easily to win the first game.

The second game went on similar lines as Sindhu took an early lead and Michelle Li played a bit more aggressively, creating some good opportunities but also making some unforced errors.

A shot sent wide after a good rally by Michelle Li gave Sindhu the match point and the 27-year-old from Hyderabad converted it with a fine smash to bag her maiden gold medal in singles in the Commonwealth Games.

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Business India News

‘India’s gold demand set to cross 800 tonne’

As the second largest consumer of gold in the world, the bullion exchange will position India in the global market and also give a voice…reports Asian Lite News

India’s demand for gold will be between 800-850 tonne in 2022, said a top official of World Gold Council-India.

He also said 80 per cent of the demand will be for jewellery and the balance in the form of gold coins.

The gold demand in India for 2022 will be above 800 tonne. It will be between 800 tonne to 850 tonne. The 5 per cent duty hike on the gold by the Central government will not have any major impact on the demand for the yellow metal, said Somasundaram P.R., Regional CEO India, World Gold Council.

In 2021, the demand for gold in India was about 797 tonne.

He also said the Indian government is watching the rupee: dollar exchange. The government may act against imports if the rupee continues to depreciate against the dollar.

On the impact of the India International Bullion Exchange (IIBE) Somasundaram said it is important for India. With a robust regulatory framework, the exchange is an important component.

As the second largest consumer of gold in the world, the bullion exchange will position India in the global market and also give a voice.

“If the Indian gold refiners can align with the global standards then Indian gold bars can also be traded on the exchange,” Somasundaram added.

Amid inflation and high gold prices, India’s demand for the yellow metal declined sharply in the January-March quarter by 18 per cent to 135.5 tonnes, according to World Gold Council (WGC).

As per the report, the demand for gold was down 26 per cent to 94.2 tonnes on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.

Compared to 2021, the demand stood at 165.8 tonnes in the first three months of the year.

Speaking to ANI, Chairman of Bullion and Jewellers’ Association, Yogesh Singhal, said the prices of gold rose due to the Ukraine-Russia war.

On the other hand, the budget of the consumers shrank, he added.

“The consumer demands light jewellery at a price of Rs 50,000 and when the price is at Rs 55,000, they stop coming,” Singhal said.

He further said that when the price falls to around Rs 50,000, only then will the consumers return to the market.

“Earlier, on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, the demand used to be much more. Currently, the jewellers’ markets are empty and the reason for that is a rise in the prices of gold,” Singhal said.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, the jewellers’ market has been impacted. “Until the situation gets better, the market will keep fluctuating,” he added.

If the Ukraine-Russia war ends, the price of gold is expected to fall by a margin of Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000, added Singhal. (ANI)

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Business India News

India’s future in gold market mechanism

The regulator also allowed EGRs interoperable between vault managers to enable ease of withdrawal of gold from the vaults…reports Sameer Patil

Gold has always been an essential part of the socio-economic-cultural ethos of every Indian. As an investment, it has always carried with it the tendency of invoking a sense of sentimental attachment. Despite its tremendous significance, gold investments did not keep pace in terms of ease of buying, storing, and safety. These factors motivated BSE to create a transparent and efficient investment mechanism for gold.


BSE’s role in developing India’s gold market:

BSE has been in the forefront pursuing the case for EGRs. It has made several presentations to the government and regulator on the process workflow. This included interface with Shri Shaktikanta Das ji, the then secretary in Ministry of Finance, and seeking participation of banks, vaults, wholesalers, retailers, importers, and exporters, etc. that forms the ecosystem.

BSE’s first commitment fructified on October 1, 2018, when it became India’s first universal exchange by adding gold derivatives to its product portfolio. With a view to further widen and deepen the Bullion markets, on the suggestion of BSE, framework to introduce ‘options on spot’ prices of commodities instead of futures prices was permitted. BSE launched the first ‘options in goods’ contracts on gold mini and silver kg based on spot prices from June 1, 2020.

BSE became India’s first exchange to comply by India Good Delivery Standard on its commodity platform by adopting Bureau of Indian standard (BIS) notified standards – IS 17278: 2019, for delivery of gold and silver. This was in line with Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ of a self-reliant nation.

With this step, BSE wished to highlight its commitment and priority towards own good delivery standard and emerge as the price-setter instead of a price-taker in bullion trade. BSE has also consistently executed seamless delivery gold across all contracts in both LBMA and IGDS standards at its designated vault in Ahmedabad.

BSE has also played a pivotal role in the success of India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX), where BSE’s wholly-owned subsidiary – BSE Technologies, is the technology provider. BSE’s subsidiary India INX and India ICC hold 20 per cent stake in the IIBX.

Spot Trading in Gold:

BSE has made several presentations to government and regulators on how the spot trading process in gold can work, and how the participants of various types including banks, vaults, wholesaler, retailer, importers, exporters etc. will participate in this ecosystem. BSE was also part of Niti Aayog committee on transforming India’s gold sector, after which the Government of India, in the budget of 2018-19, had announced its intent to establish a system of regulated gold exchanges in the country. Further, in the Union Budget 2021-22, Hon’ble Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ji announced the setting up of a gold spot exchange, and that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will be the designated regulator for the proposed gold exchange.

Subsequently in its board meeting held on September 28, 2021, SEBI has introduced two new investing instruments – electronic gold receipts (EGR) and silver ETFs. The instrument representing gold i.e., EGR, and will be having trading, clearing and settlement features akin to other securities that are currently available in India. It is to the testament of SEBI that several new and innovative products including EGRs have been launched in a short time frame.

What are EGR’s:

Currently, India allows trading only in gold derivatives and gold ETFs, unlike several other countries which have spot exchanges for physical trade in gold. Post approval from the SEBI board, Indian investors will soon see a new class of security known as EGR that will be available for trading on the stock exchanges like BSE. Like shares, these EGRs will be held in demat form and can be converted into physical gold when needed. This is part of SEBI’s plan to allow trading of spot gold on the exchange platforms.

To enable trading in physical gold, it is proposed that gold in the form of a depository receipt (backed by physical gold) shall be traded and settled on stock exchanges. The entire trading will be done in three tranches that include conversion from physical gold to EGRs, trading of EGRs and again conversion of EGR back to physical gold. BSE will plan to launch EGRsof different variants and denominations ranging from 1 KG to 1 gram to attract investors and participation of all classes in a phased manner.

The source of supply of the physical gold to be converted into EGR will be the fresh deposit of gold, coming into the vaults, either through imports or through stock exchange(s) accredited domestic refineries. A client can also convert physical gold to EGR by depositing physical gold at the designated delivery centre. Exchanges shall empanel Vault Service Providers (VSPs) based on guidelines prescribed by SEBI. Similarly, clients can redeem EGRs back to physical gold, and the process is complete. An interface will be developed between the vault managers (of physical gold), depositories (that hold EGRs in demat) and stock exchanges and clearing corporations that clear the trade.

Benefits:

Such a product will cater to all market participants which means that buyers and sellers on the exchange shall include individual investors, as well as commercial participants along the value chain like the importers, banks, refiners, bullion traders, jewellery manufacturers and retailers. This can play transformative role in developing India’s gold market encompassing the entire ecosystem and create a vibrant gold ecosystem in India by enabling actual fungibility of gold, which is the need of the hour. The regulator also allowed EGRs interoperable between vault managers to enable ease of withdrawal of gold from the vaults.

The idea of spot trade via EGR will lead to one nation one price of gold. The standard gold that will be traded under EGR will help in creating uniform price structure of gold across the country. At present there is no gold price in the country. This can reduce the existing market inefficiencies that exist in bullion trade and may act as a bridge in integrating spot gold trade with derivatives markets and create a transparent platform for bullion trading.

A single point trading for both spot and derivatives would provide scale, liquidity, and better pricing for all market participants by bringing down cost and cycle time significantly. Trading in EGRs will also greatly contribute to the existing programmes for gold monetisation such as Gold Monetization Scheme (GMS), Gold Bonds and Gold Deposits.

Next Steps:

BSE is also well known for its technological prowess and has always been the fastest-to-go, in a seamless manner, for all new products including commodities. BSE has the technology for such trading of EGRs and has received in-principle approval from SEBI. Mock trading and testing of systems are currently underway, and BSE is ready to launch EGR as a separate segment.

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India News Sport Sports

Women’s 10m air rifle National T2 trials: Mehuli wins gold

Mehuli, a Youth Olympic Games silver medallist, had shot 630.1 on Saturday to qualify for the top-eight stage in the sixth position. Gujarat’s Elavenil Valarivan topped the field with 632.1…reports Asian Lite News

Mehuli Ghosh of West Bengal beat Karnataka’s Tilottama Sen 17-9 to clinch gold in the women’s 10m air rifle National T2 trials here on Sunday. Mehuli had earlier finished second in the T1 trials on Friday.

Tilottama, however, won the junior women’s 10m air rifle T2 trial. She also finished second in the youth T2 competition, for a profitable three-medal day.

Mehuli, a Youth Olympic Games silver medallist, had shot 630.1 on Saturday to qualify for the top-eight stage in the sixth position. Gujarat’s Elavenil Valarivan topped the field with 632.1.

From the two semi-finals on Sunday, Mehuli, Tilottama and Elavenil were joined in the medal match by Haryana’s Ramita. Here, Elavenil settled for bronze with 37 points while Mehuli (48) and Tilottama made it to the title round.

In the junior women’s final, Tilottama clashed with Arya Rajesh Borse of Maharashtra, who had won the T1 junior trials on Friday. This time, however, Tilottama got the better of Arya, winning 17-5 in the end. She had to settle for silver again in the all-Karnataka youth final, where Yukthi Rajendra beat her 17-9.

The men’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) T1 and T2 trials were also completed on Saturday. Niraj Kumar of the Indian Navy got the better of Madhya Pradesh’s Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar by a margin of 17-5 in the T1 gold medal match-up, while the seasoned Army marksman Chain Singh beat the Railways’ Swapnil Suresh Kusale 17-9 to win the T2 trials.

Over 3,300 shooters, including all top shooters of the country, are participating in the year’s first National trials after they were postponed from January, because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Indian teams for the upcoming World Cup in Baku and Junior World Cup in Suhl will be selected on the basis of these trials.

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Six Indian boxers clinch gold medals in Asian Youth & Junior Boxing

She continued her aggressive approach in the last round to complete the comeback and win 4-1…reports Asian Lite News

Six Indian junior boxers, led by Vini, Yakshika and Vidhi, registered contrasting wins to claim gold medals in their respective weight divisions at the 2022 ASBC Asian Youth & Junior Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday.

Vini, the diminutive boxer from Hisar, was facing Karina Tokubay of Kazakhstan in the flyweight 50kg final. The Indian boxer started off well and won the first round convincingly before her opponent made a strong comeback in the second, which set the tone for a fierce decider that saw both the boxers exchange a lot of punches. Vini was scoring consistently and moving around the ring en route securing a 5-0 verdict in her favour.

Yakshika (52kg) displayed remarkable courage and temperament against Uzbekistan’s Rakhima Bekniyazova to mount a comeback. The pugilist from Panipat absorbed a lot of punches in the first round and was trailing 0-5.

Yakshika came back strongly in the second round and counter-attacked brilliantly to level the scores. She continued her aggressive approach in the last round to complete the comeback and win 4-1.

Vidhi notched up a comfortable 5-0 win against Aya Suwindeh of Jordan in the 57kg featherweight final. The Indian boxer was in cruise control throughout the bout and forced the opponent to play at her terms. Playing at the distance, Vidhi was picking her punches smartly and moved around swiftly throughout the bout, without giving any chance to the local girl.

Defending Champion Nikita Chand (60kg) grabbed the yellow metal again as she dominated her bout against Uldana Taubay of Kazakhstan from the beginning which forced the referee to stop the contest in the third round.

Shrushti Sathe (63kg) was up against Nursulu Suienaly of Kazakhstan, who had no answer for the Indian boxer’s reflexes and strong punches. Shrushti was relentlessly landing accurate punches in the second round and as a result of that, the referee stopped the contest in the second round.

Rudrika (75kg) blanked Kazakhstan’s Shuglya Nalibay 5-0 in a one-sided contest.

Earlier on Sunday, Mahi (46kg) and Palak (48kg) lost unanimously to Jasmin Tokhirova and Zilolakhon Yufova of Uzbekistan in their respective bouts. Supriya (54kg) lost against Uzbekistan’s Uzukjamol Yunusova as the referee stopped the contest in the second round.

In the 81 kg final, Khushi went down fighting against Kazakhstan’s Kuralay Yeginbaikyzy and lost 1-4. Nirjhara (+81kg) lost to Sobirakhon Shakhobidinova of Uzbekistan by RSC in the second round.

Later tonight, four Indian Junior boxers — Krrish Pal (46kg), Ravi Saini (48kg), Yashwardhan Singh (60kg) and Rishab Singh (60kg) will be in action.

With 21 medals in junior and 18 in the Youth section, the Indian contingent has secured 39 medals at the prestigious continental tournament where both the age groups of men and women—youth and junior—are being played together.

During the last edition of the tournament held in Dubai in 2021, India concluded their campaign with 39 medals including 14 gold.

The tournament has witnessed a strong competition after starting with 352 boxers from 21 countries including India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

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India News Sports

India shoot gold in Cairo Shooting World Cup

The pendulum kept swinging for the next four series and after the end of the 13th, the two teams remained unseparated at 13-13…reports Asian Lite News

In a thrilling gold medal match-up in the Women’s 25M Pistol team competition on the penultimate day of the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol in Cairo, India registered a 17-13 victory over Singapore to claim their third gold of the tournament.

Rahi Sarnobat, Esha Singh and Rhythm Sangwan made it to the title round on Saturday after topping the second qualification stage along with the Singaporean trio of Xiu Hong, Shun Xie and Ling Chiao Nicole Tan.

This was Esh’s second gold and third medal of the World Cup as well, as she had won the Women’s 10M Air Pistol team event to add to the silver she won in the Women’s 10M Air Pistol individual event.

India further added to their medal count on the day, after Shriyanka Sadangi and Akhil Sheoran beat Austria’s Rebecca Koeck and Gernot Rumpler 16-10 in the bronze medal match of the 50M Rifle 3-Positions (3P) Mixed Team competition.

When the Indian women began their gold medal match with six hits out of 15 to Singapore’s four to take a 2-0 lead, very few expected the drama that was going to unfold. At the end of the third series of five shots each for every member, the scores were tied at 3-3 and coach Samaresh Jung called for a time-out as Esha had registered back-to-back blanks.

That seemed to have settled nerves and with the experienced Rahi coming into her own and registering five hits in the fifth series, India led again with the score reading 7-3. However, Singapore came back strongly to win the next three series and take the lead for the first time in the match. India came back emphatically to win the ninth series 12-7, to level the match again at 9-9.

The pendulum kept swinging for the next four series and after the end of the 13th, the two teams remained unseparated at 13-13. Then India clinched the 14th just about with a 10-8 score-line to go into the 15th series 15-13 ahead and needing a point more for victory.

Both teams began the 15th with all three hits but it was the Singaporeans who blinked first registering blanks over the next six shots to give India the title and the gold.

In the 50M Rifle 3-Positions Mixed Team co’petition, India’s Shriyanka Sadangi and Akhil Sheoran came through round one of qualification, finishing fifth out of 34 teams with a combined score of 872 out of 900 and then finished third out of the top eight teams in round two, with an effort of 581 out of 600, to make it to the bronze medal match against Austria who finished fourth in the round. Norway beat Germany for gold in the event.

In the Men’s 25M Rapid Fire Pistol, India fell short of the medal rounds with Bhavesh Shekhawat finishing 12th with 576 while Anish Bhanwala ended 18th with 571. Gurpreet Singh with 554 was further behind at 32nd spot.

The final two medals of the Cairo World Cup will be decided on Monday in Team competitions and India, currently placed second on the medal tally, will surely aim for the top spot.

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Business India News

India’s April-Jan gold imports surge sharply to $40.5 bn

While the Government can partly alleviate the pressures through a further cut in excise duties of retail fuels, input costs are set to increase further for sectors such as paints, chemicals, plastic products, transport and aviation in the near term…reports Sanjeev Sharma

Many investors may move a part of their financial savings into gold since there is a risk of an underperformance of the equity markets in such a tense geo political scenario.

Suman Chowdhury, Chief Analytical Officer, Acuite Ratings & Research, said international gold prices have remained mostly above $1,750 for most of the months in the last one year but despite that gold imports by India have remained high.

Gold imports have actually risen sharply to $40.5 bn in the April-January of FY22 which is the highest ever for the country in the past comparable periods.

With pent up demand picking up due to higher weddings and unlocking of the economy along with the typical investment demand for gold during a crisis period, we believe that gold consumption will continue to remain robust in India. Many investors may move a part of their financial savings into gold since there is a risk of an underperformance of the equity markets in such a tense geo political scenario, Chowdhury said.

As the global economy witnesses a drop in headwinds from the Covid pandemic, new geo political risks emerge from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and if turns out to be a prolonged affair, crude oil prices are likely to stay above $100 over the near term.

Clearly, this will have an impact on the domestic inflationary scenario where there are already significant undercurrents due to increasing pass through of higher commodity prices with improving demand in manufactured products and even services.

While the Government can partly alleviate the pressures through a further cut in excise duties of retail fuels, input costs are set to increase further for sectors such as paints, chemicals, plastic products, transport and aviation in the near term.

While we have forecast the headline inflation at 5 per cent for FY23, there are significant upside risks if crude continues to remain above $100 for 1-2 quarters. Apart from a potential impact on monetary policy and interest rates, it is also likely to have an adverse impact on the rupee through higher trade deficit and higher capital outflows, Chowdhury said.

Navneet Damani, Sr Vice President – Commodity & Currency Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said, in the last couple of sessions tensions between Russia and Ukraine have flared up and are creating havoc in most of the asset classes. Today, gold and silver prices rose by an average 3 per cent, crude rose by over 8 per cent and most currencies were down in the red against the US dollar.

If the current situation further escalates, investors will cling on to safe haven asset or sit on cash i.e. Dollar. Along, with geo-political tensions, rising inflationary concerns have also been supporting precious metal prices on lower levels, hence supporting our view of buying on dips, Damani said.

Since the start of this year, along with a strong fundamental story we are also seeing an inflow in the overall Gold ETF further supporting the market sentiment, Damani said.

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ICRA expects robust growth in gold loan securitisation

Investors like HNIs and mutual funds have shown a higher appetite in investing in gold loan PTCs as compared to other asset classes….reports Asian Lite News

Gold loan securitisation has seen healthy pickup post FY2019 driven by the growth in the gold loan book of NBFCs and very low delinquency levels that has increased investor appetite.

Gold loan securitisation volumes were about Rs 4,400 crores in H1 FY2022 (similar to volumes seen in H1 FY2021) forming 10 per cent of the overall domestic securitisation volumes as compared to 6 per cent seen in FY2020 (pre-Covid period).

During the Covid-19 pandemic, gold loans have been considered to be a safer asset class given the availability of a liquid collateral and rising gold prices. While direct assignment (DA) transactions have a dominant share, the share of PTCs in gold loan securitisation has been rising. Investors like HNIs and mutual funds have shown a higher appetite in investing in gold loan PTCs as compared to other asset classes.

According to ratings agency ICRA, the overall growth for gold loan NBFCs will remain robust in the near to medium term which would support healthy volumes of gold loan securitisation with its share in overall securitisation market being 8-10 per cent.

Says Abhishek Dafria, Vice-President and Group Head – Structured Finance Ratings at ICRA, “While gold loan securitisation had seen some slowdown post 2012 due to the removal of priority sector lending classification and introduction of minimum holding period (MHP) requirements for securitisation, the volumes have again picked up since FY2019. Lower delinquencies, liquid collateral and affinity for borrowers towards gold jewellery have ensured healthy investor appetite for gold loan securitisation.”

“The loss-cum-90+ dpd in ICRA-rated pools (both live and matured) securitised during the period from June 2019 to June 2021 is very low at sub 0.4 per cent. During this period, there have been no rating downgrades in gold loan transactions nor has there been any loss to the investor after factoring in the credit enhancements in the structure, he said.”

The low delinquencies in gold loans are also supported by the gold prices that have largely seen an upward trajectory in the last seven-year period. While there has been a moderation in gold prices in H2 FY2021 with around 10 per cent decline in gold prices over the peak of August 2021, the decline has been moderated in YTD FY2022.

Gold loan NBFCs have reported low gross net performing assets (GNPAs) since FY2018. While NBFCs resort to gold loan auctions for NPA accounts, the share of auction contracts as a share of assets under management (AUM) has also been low. Further the loss on auction is low since the loans are given at a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 75 per cent which acts as a mitigant even when gold prices were to decline, though the timeliness of the auction process would remain important.

Adds Gaurav Mashalkar, Assistant Vice-President and Sector Head, ICRA, “ICRA has rated 25 gold loan PTC transactions since June 2019 and the performance of these transactions has been healthy. The rated PTCs predominantly follow a timely interest and ultimate principal structure so that a temporary drop in collections, as seen during the lockdown period, would not result in any default on the structure. While turbo structures are prevalent in ICRA-rated pools ensuring accelerated amortisation of PTCs, high prepayments have also ensured that behavioural tenure of rated pools is predominantly between 7-9 months.”

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