OPINION, P10 WELL BEING The Gramophone Company FE LINES Star struck LET’S TALK ABOUT THERAPY Starry experiences are up for the taking for people to recreate iconic moments Page 6 Now, you can seek therapy even for issues such as improving communication, social skills and relationships—and not just psychiatric disorders Page 9 ACROSS THE AISLE , P CHIDAMBARAM SPOTLIGHT Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM VOL. XXI NO. 33 FASHION FORWARD FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY NEW DELHI SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2022, 18 PAGES, `10 (PATNA `10, RAIPUR `10) P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , WHAT'S INSIDE ■ LEISURE, P7 Heritage vs war Whenever a war breaks out, cultural properties and heritage sites bear the brunt either as collateral damage or on purpose. But there’s no clear winner here, either in conflict or during peace ■ WORDS WORTH, P4 Making sense of irrationality Irrationally Rational sheds light on how behavioural economics came into its own C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , BANIKINKAR PATTANAYAK New Delhi, June 11 ONTHE EVE of the 12th minis- terial conference (MC) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, India on Saturday said it will pitch for “fair, just and transparent discussionsandoutcome”atthemultilateral body, amid persisting differences between the developingandthedevelopedcountries on a broad range of contentious issues. The key areas of discussions and negotiations will include the 164-memberWTO’s response to the pandemic, fishery subsidies, agriculture issues, including public stockholding ON THE TABLE ■ Fishery subsidies ■ Reforms at the multilateral organisation ■ Moratorium on custom duties on electronic transmission New Delhi to push for: ■ Permanent solution on public stockholding of grain for food security ■ Protecting interests of its farmers, fishermen forfood security,reforms at the multilateralbodyandamoratorium on custom duties on electronic transmission, as per the commerce ministry. K O C H I , Base price: R Subramaniakumar course upon the completion of requisiteformalities,interaliato approvetheappointmentofMr RSubramaniakumarasanadditional director and as the managingdirector&CEOofthebank N E W D E L H I , P U N E Expected bid: IN THE FRAY Disney Star, Reliance-Viacom, Sony Network, Times Internet, FunAsia Number of matches: Total base price of 18 match cluster rights: `1,440 cr per season Per match base price of television rights: `4.9 cr 74 Separate packages for Digital, TV and International Per match base price of digital rights: `3.3 cr ■ Base price for digital rights:`12,210 cr, 3X over FY19-23 actual Continued on Page 2 Per match base price of RoW rights: `3 cr ■ Base price for TV rights: but miles to go, P2 Per match base price of 18 match cluster rights: `1.6 cr `18,130 cr, up 60% over FY19-23 actual ■ Value of IPL media ■ TV rights won by rights has grown at a compounded 10.4% in FY09-23 Sony for `8,200 cr for 10 years from 2008-17 tive directorat Indian Bank and Indian Overseas Bank (IOB).He also held the position of MD & CEO of IOB. He is currently an independent director on the board of LIC Pension Fund. Atpresent,RBLBankisbeing ledbyinterimMD&CEORajeev Ahuja.In December,the bank’s board had constituted a search committee to identify a new CEO.The change in guard was necessitated by the bank’s formerCEOVishwavirAhujagoing on leave on December 25 after the RBI appointed its executive Yogesh Dayal to the bank’s board as an additionaldirector. ■ Digital rights won by Star India for `3,022 cr for 2015-17 ■ TV plus digital won by Star India for `16,347 cr for 2018-22 MANDATORY EQUIPMENT CHECK Improper lab infra might delay telecom gear testing ● Regime to start from July 1; industry seeks 1-year extension KIRAN RATHEE New Delhi, June 11 DHFL administrator is RBL Bank chief THE RESERVE BANK of India (RBI) has cleared the appointmentofRSubramaniakumaras managing director and chief executiveofficerofRBLBankfor a period of three years, the lender said on Saturday.Subramaniakumar has earlier overseen the insolvency process of DewanHousingFinanceCorporation (DHFL) in his capacity as administrator. “Please note that a meeting of the board of directors of the bank will be convened in due M U M B A I , `32,890 cr `45,000 cr-60,000 cr ■ WTO: Some progress made PHOTO: PTI and the approval of the shareholdersshallbeobtainedthereafteraspertheapplicableprovisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and Sebi listing regulations,”RBL Bank said in a communication tothe exchanges. The bank received the communication approving Subramaniakumar’s appointment from the RBI on Friday. Subramaniakumar has 40 years of experience as a banker.He startedhiscareeratPunjabNational Bank(PNB)in1980andwenton to head business transformation at the bank for three years. He was later appointed execu- L U C K N O W , IPL television and digital rights for broadcast cycle 2023-27 For its part, New Delhi will push for a permanent solution totheissueofpublicstockholdingofgrainsforitsfoodsecurity and strive to protect the interestsoffarmersandfishermenat the ministerial. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal will lead the Indian delegation for the ministerial,which will be held from June 12-15 after a gap of four-and-a-half years.The last ministerial at Buenos Aires in December2017 had ended in a stalemate.TheMCisthehighest decision-making body of the WTO. India is not in favour of extending blanket exemptions from export restrictions under the aegis of the WTO on foodgrains purchased for the UN’s World Food Programme, as it wouldrestrictitspolicyspaceto dealwithdomesticfoodsecurity concerns,an official statement said on Saturday. Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata being conferred an honorary Doctorate of Literature by Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and HSNC University provost Dr Niranjan Hiranandani in Mumbai on Saturday FE BUREAU Mumbai, June 11 K O L K A T A , MEGAAUCTION FOR IPL MEDIA RIGHTS BEGINS TODAY BADGE OF HONOUR India has displayed remarkable resilience in recovery after a Covidinduced slump in growth, chief economic advisor (CEA) VAnantha Nageswaran said on Saturday, reports fe Bureau in New Delhi. The country has also managed to keep price pressure under check at a time when even developed nations are grappling with runaway inflation, he added. The CEA stressed that key indicators of the economy have crossed their prepandemic levels. P3 The price of US gasoline averaged more than $5 a gallon for the first time on Saturday, data from the American Automobile Association(AAA) showed,exten ding a surge in fuel costs that is driving rising inflation, reports Reuters. The national average price for regular unleaded gas rose to $5.004 a gallon on June 11 from $4.986 a day earlier, AAA data showed. P18 H Y D E R A B A D , India to push for fair, just outcome IN THE NEWS Economy has shown exemplary resilience: CEA US gasoline average price tops $5 per gallon READ TO LEAD 12TH WTO MINISTERIAL FROM JUNE 12-15 ● To seek lasting remedy for food security, against narrow carve-outs in rules on food Sustainability gains momentum in fibre as well as fashion shows Page 5 TELECOM OPERATORS AND network vendors have sought a year’s extension for mandatory testing of telecom equipment, citing inability to meet deadlines due to inappropriate lab infrastructure in the country andsupplychainchallengesdue to semiconductorshortage. The mandatorytesting and certification of telecom equipment (MTCTE) regime will come into effect from July 1, underwhichallequipmenthas to be tested at local labs before they can be installed in network rollout. The mandatory testing is necessary to check foranysecuritylapses,primar- TESTING TIMES ■ The testing is a must to check for any security lapses, primarily of imported equipment ■ Ericsson, Nokia, Cisco, Dell stated labs are grappling with a lack of human resources ilyofimportedequipment.But telecomoperatorsandvendors such as Ericsson, Nokia, Cisco, Dell,etc,have highlighted that the current lab infrastructure is inadequate. The firms have demanded that the deadline should be extended to July 2023. Onanaverage,ittakes16-18 weeks for labs to configure and testproducts.“However,evenin cases where OEMs have identi- ■ All equipment has to be tested at local labs before they can be installed in network rollout fiedtestinglabsandissuedpurchaseorders,nolabsinIndiaare equipped and accredited to undertakeend-to-endtestingat present. As a result, OEMs are requiredtomovetheirproducts from one lab to another,which isinefficientandcausesdelays,” US-India strategic partnership forum(USISPF)saidinaletterto telecomsecretaryKRajaraman. Continued on Page 2 Spike in Covid cases fails to dull Indians’ appetite for travel VARUN SINGH & VAISHALI DAR New Delhi, June 11 TRAVEL IS BOOMING across the country, and despite a recent spike in Covid cases, demand has not dampened, with travel companies continuing to witness a rise in bookings for both leisure and corporate purposes. A total of 8,329 new infections were recorded in the past 24 hours, an official statement said on Saturday. “With the restart of international flights and easing of restrictions driving positive corporate sentiment, our corporate travel and bleisure business has seen a surge,doubling month-on-month since January.We are currently run- ning at over90% of pre-Covid levels, led by IT, consultancy, banking & finance, global accounts and SMEs fuelling demand,” Indiver Rastogi, president and group head, global business travel,Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC,told FE. Rastogi said they are currentlynotwitnessing anycancellations due to the rising Covid cases. “There is clear appetite and while the tilt has been towards domestic,international travel is on the uptick with rapidly easing travel and health protocols,”he said. Aloke Bajpai, group CEO & co-founder of travel portal ixigo, said: “Travel confidence and demand is strong forsummer travel. Search queries for UAE,US,UK & Canada are seeing a week-on-week growth.” Travel landscape ■ Travel companies not witnessing any cancellations both in corporate and leisure travels ■ Recovery in domestic travel reached 98% of pre-Covid levels in April and May ■ International passenger traffic likely to reach 80-85% of pre-Covid levels in FY2023 Surge in airfares Apart from rising Covid cases,there has been a surge in airfares and hotel rates aswell. Since international flights resumed, the airfares for Singapore have increased by Rise in domestic hotel rates Airfares for Singapore have increased by 59%, Bali by 43%, Mauritius by 31%, Dubai and Abu Dhabi by 18%, Switzerland, France and Italy by 15% Room tariffs for hotels in Himachal, Uttarakhand, J&K and North-East gone up by 50%, Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala by 40%, and Goa by 10% in June against Jan 59%, Bali by 43%, Mauritius by 31%,Dubai andAbu Dhabi by 18%, Switzerland, France and Italyby15%,according to Thomas Cook (India). Besides, room tariffs for hotels in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and North-East have gone up by 50%,Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu,Karnataka and Kerala by 40%, and Goa by 10% in June as compared to January. In Europe and the USA,the hotel room tariffs have shot up by 12-15% and 10%, respectively, in June when compared with April. For hotels in Maldives, the hike has been 5-7%.Aditya Gupta, senior vice-president, hotels and holidays, Yatra.com, said summer travel is one of the biggest travel trends in the industry. “The rise in Covid cases has not had any impact on travel across businesses such as flights,hotels,holidays,buses, etc. The rise in cases is still very recent and we are yet to witness any impact,” Gupta said. A Vistara executive, on the condition of anonymity, also confirmed there is no impact on demand as of now. A Cleartrip spokesperson said for domestic travellers, there are no frequent changes in regulations and the movement is smooth, with the New Delhi recovery in domestic passenger traffic reaching 98% of pre-Covid levels in April and May. “For international travellers, most countries have significantly relaxed restrictions over the past couple of months. Indian airports have witnessed a steep ramp-up in international passenger traffic to 72% of pre-Covid levels in May and it is expected to reach 80-85% of pre-covid levels during FY 2023,” the spokesperson added. While Cleartrip has witnessed a jump of 12% in organic hotel bookings for leisure travel since January, it is expecting higher growth in the coming months. Continued on Page 2