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Sterlite Copper launches coffee table book highlighting role of copper in the modern world

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Highlighting the importance of copper and its contribution to the modern world, Sterlite Copper launched a coffee table book, showcasing its origin and its definitive role in shaping the modern world, at the SICCI CXO Conclave, held in Chennai.

Unveiled by Mayur Karmakar, MD, International Copper Association, India, with Ms. A. Sumathi, Chief Operating Officer, Sterlite Copper, the 70-page book comes with an interesting title “Hi I’M COPPER”.

The book traverses the entire journey of copper from its discovery in 9,000 B.C. in an Egyptian river to the current times, focusing on its integral role in creating the modern world as we know it today. The book also traces the lifecycle of the metal and covers the entire gamut of its industrial and sectoral usage ranging from Power, Defence, Automobiles, Healthcare, FMCD among others.

Speaking at the launch of the Coffee Table Book, Ms. A. Sumathi, Chief Operating Officer, Sterlite Copper said: “We are delighted to unveil the copper coffee table book ‘Hi, I’m Copper’. The book aims to essay the journey of Copper and Sterlite’s smelting story. Over the last 25 years, Sterlite Copper has leveraged on technology to upgrade its processes and we had always benchmarked our practices to the global standards in terms of energy efficiency, copper recovery, effluent treatment while being sensitive to our corporate ethos of ESG standards.”

The book highlights how Sterlite Copper, which began with a 100 KTPA Smelter in the year 1996, went on to become the largest supplier of Copper in India, meeting nearly 36 per cent of the country’s copper demand by 2018. The operations of the plant are also benchmarked against global best-practices, with certifications in Quality, Environment, Occupational Health & Safety, Energy.

The plant has also invested heavily in environmental safeguards such as Gas Scrubbers, Effluent Treatment Plants and Reverse Osmosis Plants in order to ensure a safe and sustainable operation in Thoothukudi. The plant has been certified for its Zero Liquid Discharge, Water Consumption Management, Waste Reduction and Repurposing Waste towards Sustainable Applications.

The book also clearly brings out the economic benefits of the Thoothukudi plant in Tamil Nadu. It had emerged as a pillar of support for the community and a provider of livelihood to thousands of people. The plant engaged about 1,000 trucks/tankers on daily basis with consistent load, thereby providing livelihood to around 9,000 truck drivers and cleaners per month. It had over 650 supply and service partners and helped them generate a business of close to $134 million every year. The total number of dependent domestic companies for supply of raw material from Sterlite Copper was 381 and contributed approximately $295 million to the exchequer.

Additionally, it provided more than 17 per cent of Thoothukudi port’s total revenue. Even the by-products of the copper smelting like sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, gypsum and copper slag act as critical input for a number of important industries. While sulphuric acid is the primary raw material for chemical and fertilizer, gypsum is a key ingredient for cement production.

Sumathi adds: “Copper is the third most used metal in industrial and civil applications across the world and its constantly increasing demand increases the need for production, thereby having a direct impact on employment opportunities & downstream industries. We at Sterlite have created direct employment for 4,000 people and impacted more than 20,000 people engaged in various supplier and customer units. Through the book, we want everyone to become aware about the journey & importance of copper and Sterlite, which together contributed immensely to the overall economy, not just at a national level, but also at a State and District level.”.

Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Institute Chair Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur & Former Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, government of India, who wrote the foreword for the coffee table book, says” “I believe Copper is one of the key drivers of Industry 4.0 and beyond. An invisible enabler, copper’s role in the future of our world will be all pervasive from our homes to outer space explorations.

“I’m delighted that the importance of copper is being covered in a comprehensive way in the book being launched today. I wish to congratulate the team Sterlite for conceiving and executing this much needed document of value to its many stakeholders from the traditional industries to Industry 4.0 and Digital/cyber technologies.”

Also speaking at the occasion, Mayur Karmakar, MD, International Copper Association India, said: “Copper is the third-most-essential metal in the world, contributing to the environmental and socio-economic development across the globe. The demand for the crucial metal, which is a key input for multiple sectors, is expected to further raise sustainable growth in the post-pandemic scenario.”

Another significant aspect of the book is that it brings into focus, the role of the company in building an aspirational and empowered society with all the stakeholders working in tandem for the common good all. For instance, under the Muthucharam initiative, the company plans to build a smart school and a well-equipped hospital for the community. Plans are also afoot to plant 1 million trees to make Thoothukudi, one of the greenest cities in India. Other initiatives include providing clean drinking water to every family in Thoothukudi. More than 2,300 families have already benefited from this project,Tamira Surabhi till date.

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India Set To Lead The World In 6G, Says Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia

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In a bold declaration at the inaugural address of the Indian Mobile Congress 2024 (IMC) on Tuesday, Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia has said that India will lead the world in the adoption of 6G.

In his address at the event, Scindia emphasized that India is now prepared to lead the world in the development of 6G technology.

India’s Technological Rise: From Following to Leading

“It is our belief and commitment that India, which followed the world in 4G and marched with it in 5G, will lead the world in 6G,” Scindia stated.

The minister highlighted India’s remarkable achievements in the telecommunications sector over the last ten years, the country has become a global leader in innovation and technology.

“It’s a fundamental change in approach towards technology development,” he said, attributing this transformation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.

Telecom Sector Growth Under PM Modi’s Leadership

“Prime Minister who has always put people at the heart of progress Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas Sabka Vishvas aur Sabka Prayas combined with his second motto, One Earth, One Family and One Future. It is combination of these two mottos that leads India under PM Narendra Modi leadership one of the leading sectors in the committee of Nations,” Scindia said.

Scindia underscored government’s initiatives to bridge the digital divide, particularly through the BharatNet program, the world’s largest rural broadband connectivity initiative to connect every panchayat of the nation. Over the past three years, the government has invested more than USD 10 billion and laid 7 lakh kilometres of fiber across rural India.

Digital Payments and UPI: Pillars of India’s Digital Economy

He cited staggering growth in mobile and broadband connectivity, with mobile connections rising from 94 million to 1.16 billion, and broadband users growing from 60 million to 924 million in just a decade. India’s optical fibre cable (OFC) networks has expanded from 11 million kilometers to 41 million kilometres over the last ten years, he added.

The minister further said that this growth is accompanied by the success of India’s digital payment systems, the 4G stack, and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which serve as pillars of India’s digital economy are expected to contribute significantly to the global digital infrastructure.

Scindia further noted that the government’s efforts to ensure that policy frameworks keep pace with the rapidly evolving digital landscape. “The recent changes to the Telecommunications act 2023 is a case in point. It has been drawing light upon hither to undressed areas such as a high potential sector of satellite communications, addressing the challenges of the digital leader. The most important being cyber security. The telecom sector much like other growth critical sectors in India is aggressive, is ambitioushe said.

“The telecom sector much like other growth critical sectors in India is aggressive, is ambitious and its outlook in our Journey from Amritkal to Shatabdikal is to lead the world,” Scindia said. By mid-next year, India will have achieved 100 per cent saturation of 4G across the entire country, covering even the most remote villages, the minister said.

He emphasised PM Modi’s vision of India as a first mover in 6G technology, underscoring the nation’s resolve to lead the world in future telecom innovations.

“The attitude put forward by the prime minister of not just embracing, but raising ourselves to becoming the first mover in the 6G technology,” he added.

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Indian Markets Gave Better Returns Than China In Last 5 Years, Says Sebi Member

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Sebi Whole-time Member Ananth Narayan G on Monday reminded investors that Indian equities have consistently delivered 15 per cent returns over the last 5 years whereas the same has been zero or even negative in China.

Terming the Indian markets “sone pe suhaga” for delivering higher returns for lower risks, Narayan also flagged a few areas of caution for investors and asked them to be conscious of the risks.

“There’s a lot of talk about China markets over the last few days. But over the last five years, while Indian markets have given around 15 per cent compound annual growth rate consistently, Chinese markets are nowhere close to that. It’s almost zero. In fact, in some cases, like in Hong Kong, it’s actually negative,” Narayan said.

Speaking at an event marking the start of the Investor Awareness Week at NSE, Narayan said FY24 was a “remarkable” year for India, with the benchmark indices returning 28 per cent and the volatility just 10 per cent.

“That’s like ‘sone pe suhaga’. It’s like the best of all worlds: low risk and very high return,” Narayan said, underlining that there are side effects of this as well.

Making it clear that it will not be the same going forward and investors should not assume it to be a one-way street, Narayan said such handsome returns can lead to complacency and pointed to a lot of youngsters opening up demat accounts to join the bandwagon.

Educating people about risks is very important, Narayan said, giving the analogy of driving a car. “There has to be a light push on the accelerator to get more investors to provide risk capital for the economic growth, we also need to be aware of risks and use the brakes if need be.” He said that 40 per cent of the small and midcap scrips have shot up by 5 times in the last five years, because of an imbalance between inflow of investor money and supply of new paper.

On its part, the capital markets regulator is trying hard to ensure that fund-raising clearances are done early so that there is a steady stream of quality paper supply in the market.

From a broader, longer-term perspective, Indian markets will only go north from here given the economic growth prospects in the country, Narayan said, issuing specific advice to investors.

Investors need to have the right intermediaries to capitalise on this opportunity presented by India, and not fall for the unregistered and fly-by-night ‘finfluencers’ who might be driven by vested interests, he said.

Using the oft-repeated idiom of “all roads lead to Rome”, Narayan remarked that Rome is not a traveller-friendly place and one may get scammed there as well. Therefore, it is important to seek advice from the right people for the investors, he said.

He also said that it is in investors’ interests to trade less and stay invested for longer for higher returns, and added that studies prove the same.

Sebi, which has flagged certain areas like derivatives recently, is not against speculation or participants taking short-term trades, but it would want investors to understand the risks, Narayan said.

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Ratan Tata Rubbishes Rumors Of ‘Critical Health’; Says No Cause For Concern

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Ratan Tata Rubbishes Rumors Of 'Critical Health'; Says No Cause For Concern

Tata Group’s Ratan Tata has denied rumours of his critical health that have been reported and have surfaced in the recent hours.

Ratan Tata’s associates took to his official Instagram account to debunk the news of him being ‘Critical’.

In the post, Ratan Tata said, “I am aware of recent rumors circulating regarding my health and want to assure everyone that these claims are unfounded. I am currently undergoing medical check-ups due to my age and related medical conditions.

There is no cause for concern. I remain in good spirits and request that the public and media respect refrain from spreading misinformation.

For more than fifty years, Ratan Tata has led the Indian business community’s entrance hall. The 86-year-old has been suffering from illnesses associated with ageing. Tata has participated in social life to the best of his limited ability despite his health issues.

Recently, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, on October 2, Ratan Tata, expressed his congratulations to the Prime Minister on this occasion. “I congratulate the honourable Prime Minister on the 10-year commemoration of programmes that have benefitted millions in rural India.”

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