Samar Vijay Singh, Director, Hotel Udai Kothi recently joined NewsX for a special conversation as part of NewsX India A-List. Recognised for excellence in the hospitality industry, Udai Kothi is a stunningly modern hotel with all of the amenities and luxuries that a 21st-century traveller might dream of. Though Udai Kothi is modern at heart, the concept has gone to great lengths to provide all of the architectural and decorative features that make living in Udaipur so enjoyable.

Samar spoke about the concept behind the Udai Kothi and said, “So it’s an old property and the land was given to my great grandfather, but it was from 1928. So that time, it was all in ruins, nothing was there. So my father shifted to Udaipur from Chittorgarh in 2000. When he came over with an idea that we should start a boutique hotel, so he made everything from a scratch”.

When asked about the USP which made Udai Kothi different from others, Samar said, “ I think Udai Kothi offers a very futuristic view of all the major attractions, for example, city Palace, Lake palace, Sajangarh even Bagore ki haveli. You can see all from the rooftops and especially Udai Kothi’s main USP was rooftop swimming pools. So we were the first one to start the rooftop swimming pool concept in Udaipur, so that was the main USP. We got featured on in Conde Nast and the New York Times”.

Speaking about the Baromasi, which is already gaining a lot of popularity among the youngsters, he describes, “so basically Baromasi means 12 months in Rajasthani. The name Baromasi name was given by my mother. It’s a concept about star signs. We made a bar, and then I and my dad had a crazy idea that we could make a see-through glass floor with a pool. So that’s how it became a nice good selling point. It’s the only place which is open till around 2 am, the only pub in Udaipur city that is open till this late. So, that is the reason we see a huge footfall of the youngsters.”

When asked about his journey in the hospitality industry, he expressed, “Earlier, I was never interested in Hospitality. My family was into politics, so they always wanted me to be inclined towards politics. But my father always had a passion for hospitality. And I’m interested in event management and stuff”.

He added, “2020 has been the toughest year like you see, nobody imagined how it would be, especially for the tourism sector. Udai Kothi was always popular with foreign nationals, especially French clients. So 2020 happened and things drastically changed. Fortunately, we had Baromasi which has the youngsters buzzing about it. Wedding used to happen, but the good thing is Udai Kothi being a 60 room property, we were fortunate enough to have thought of it as a wedding venue or sangeet.”

On a parting note, he talked about his inspirations and said, “I have always been a being big comic book fan. So I think I look up to Batman being my role model. Also, my father, of course, you see, I owe everything to him. I am inspired by the great ruler great Maharana Kumbha. Everyone knows about Maharana Pratap but people don’t know how great Maharana Kumbha was. So I see these three people as my inspirational figures”

The recently held Leaders’ Climate Summit and the Quad leaders meet has reclaimed the USA’s lost position in the climate change helm and galvanized efforts by the world’s major economies to reduce emissions, to mobilize public and private sector finance to drive the net-zero transition and to help vulnerable countries cope with climate impacts. The Quad coalition also proclaimed a new chapter in the Indo-Pacific competition and promised to collaborate in climate initiatives in the region.

This has proved to be a game-changer in the global climate steps ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, this November and has put India, in specific, on the centre stage of the global climate discourse. The current change in the geo-political scenario can reap golden eggs for the Indian economy, which has manifested itself as the kernel of green project potentials for investors. This is evident from the fact that in the recent visit to India, John Kerry, the US climate czar, emphasised the importance of India as a “red hot investment”.

Although India has not pledged a “net-zero” carbon emission as China has, it has made 3 quantitative commitments under the Paris Agreement. However, to substantiate the green transformation, India will require ~ USD 170bn/year for climate action from 2015-30, of which only an average of $ 19bn was financed between 2017-19, out of which $17bn was lost due to greenwashing of funds in other activities to climate. With the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, the climate goals have been impeded with expenditure cuts and funds channelling towards high-priority sectors like healthcare and public welfare.

To rub along the situation and fill this gap in India, four dynamic shifts are necessary: Scale, balance, risk, and regulation in the green finance space. India needs ground-breaking reforms to leverage international finance in the green sectors, which accounts for only 10% of the total investments in the sector. The world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and institutional investors like AXA Group, GPIF, Enel, Macquarie Group must not back off from investing in India, considering it a risky venture. Besides this, it is the best time for the Indian diaspora to emerge as a catalyst and collaborator in mobilising the funds and employing their expertise towards green finance. This will also enable recognized channels of funds and swift allocation of funds.

Until recently, environmental protection and economic growth were viewed as irreconcilable goals by developing nations like India, which added burdens on the fiscal health of the country with no real economic value. However, with the advent of technological advances in India and the global Environment, Social & Government (ESG) vogue, green initiates are seen as a virtuous post-covid recovery catalyser by India.

India’s new green job creation can be a game-changer for the economy, especially for the rural community with the majority of the jobs being available for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. People who are considered ineligible for several permanent and well-paid jobs can get maintenance and operations, installation, and sales jobs in this sector. Investments in climate-resilient infrastructure can also support remote populations and smallholder farmers adversely impacted by shocks such as the pandemic through increased market access, improved crop productivity, and greater food security. Investments in low-carbon energy access will also induce sustainable forestry practices which can generate economic returns & employment and improve the health of COVID-19-affected indigenous communities.

On the flip side, there are negative externalities attached to climate change, which extends long-term and only gets worse with time. Increasing storms, heat waves, and floods will impact India harder than almost any other nation, with up to 4.5% of our GDP annually at risk according to a report by McKinsey Global Institute.

Currently, debt accounted for 54% of the total tracked green finance in India. However, such instruments as green bonds can have a detrimental effect on the energy sovereignty of the country since most of the energy projects are long-term capital intensive with slow cash inflows and face price controls over transmission, making them susceptible to failures and crowding out of private funds. Instead, India should welcome international finance in the form of equity and specifically in the development of electricity storage technologies and manufacturing of solar panels and wind energy equipment, 80% of which are imported from China. This will foster the development of green technologies, spur the supply of such equipment in the country and bring down the installation fixed costs. Over the long-term India can then think of steering towards a net-zero at a lower cost, which is currently a major bottleneck.

India has moved a long distance in its approach to climate change – from being seen as obstructionist to seizing the tech and economic opportunities of climate change by metamorphosing its approach to become an epitome of climate combat warrior.

The bottom line is that the COVID-19 crisis has already put us at risk of a two-speed world. Developing countries like India are much worse hit and are likely to take longer to recover. Although lending to developing countries to reduce the effects of climate change, expanded to $78.9bn in 2018, developed nations should provide financial assistance outside their domestic territory to maintain a balance between the two worlds and meet the aim to mobilize $100bn per year by 2025. This can start with the US contributing the $2bn towards the Green Climate Fund, which it promised in 2008 but shunned away incessantly.

Rajesh Mehta is a leading consultant & columnist working on Market Entry, Innovation & Public Policy. Uddeshya Goel is a financial researcher with specific interests in climate change and innovation.

“India’s new green job creation can be a game-changer for the economy, especially for the rural community with the majority of the jobs being available for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. People who are considered ineligible for several permanent and well-paid jobs can get maintenance and operations, installation, and sales jobs in this sector.”

US-based Gilead Sciences Inc company, the developer of antiviral drug remdesivir, used for treating Covid-19 patients, will provide all its licensing partners in coronavirus-hit India with the technical support for the addition of new manufacturing facilities but will not send any more specialists there, a Gilead spokesperson told Sputnik.

On Monday, Gilead announced steps to boost the availability of the drug in India and vowed to donate at least 450,000 vials of Veklury, which is a brand name of remdesivir, to the country. Meanwhile, all seven local manufacturers of the drug have significantly increased their capacity and production, it added.

“Gilead will provide all of its voluntary licensing partners with technical assistance, support for the addition of new local manufacturing facilities and the donation of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) as they rapidly scale up production of remdesivir to address the needs of patients in India and other low- and middle-income countries included as part of the voluntary license program,” the company said.

Asked whether it would send more specialists to India, the spokesperson explained that since the company has already made the technology transfer back when they signed the agreements, it does not need to send specialists.

Russian pharmaceutical manufacturer Pharmasyntez told Sputnik earlier this week, that it was ready to deliver up to one million packages of remdesivir to India by the end of May. To ship the drug to India requires an export license issued by the Russian government at the request of New Delhi, or immediately within Russia’s humanitarian effort. In the wake of the Russian announcement, reports emerged that plans on the deliveries have been shifted due to the issue with the US licensing laws which Gilead has to abide by. However, the company told Sputnik that it “did not issue any notice” or “has any plans to raise any objection” to the export of the drug from Russia to India.

(With ANI inputs)

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking directions to ensure that migrant and stranded labourers get ration and food security and they are also able to travel back to their homes at nominal cost amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The plea was filed by activists Harsh Mander, Anjali Bhardwaj and Jagdeep Chhokar. It sought urgent directions from the court to ensure food security, cash transfers and other measures for the migrant labourers as well as provision of their transport facility in order to travel back their hometown.

The fresh application was filed in the suo moto case initiated last year by the top court on Covid-19 crisis. It sought directions from the Central Government to resume its scheme of providing dry rations under the Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme to all 8 crore migrant labourers who are not covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) or state Public Distribution System (PDS) cards and were identified under the said scheme last year.

The application stated that the scheme was started last year after the migrant crisis escalated but was kept operational only for two months till June, 2020, and was discontinued thereafter.

They also urged the top court to direct the Central and the state governments to provide free cooked food through networks of community kitchens, hunger relief and feeding centres especially at places where distressed migrant workers are congregating such as industrial areas, homeless shelters, bus stations, train stations and other areas to ensure no one remains hungry.

They submitted that the problems and miseries faced by migrant workers during last year’s lockdown have persisted over the past year due to continued economic distress and now have been aggravated on account of fresh restrictions, curfews and lockdowns being imposed in many states to control the transmission of Covid-19.

“Migrant workers are again bearing the brunt of these policies and urgent intervention is required to address the following issues – a) loss of livelihood and means of income on account of the restrictions and lockdowns resulting in people being unable to pay for basic needs like food, rent, etc.., and b) lack of proper arrangement for safe and free travel back to their hometowns and villages when lockdowns are announced,” stated the plea.

The application also said that even though states have been imposing decentralised Covid-19 curfews and lockdowns more cautiously this year, they have offered little welfare support to working classes and migrants whose livelihoods are at stake once again.

The plea further mentioned, “This has triggered a second exodus of migrant workers who are flocking train and bus terminals in urban centres in a bid to get back home.”

The Central and state governments should provide transport by buses and rails at nominal fare to such migrant labourers while ensuring adherence to COVID-19 protocols, said the application.

It also sought the indulgence of the court to direct Central and the state governments to jointly and severally ensure cash transfers equivalent to the notified minimum wage of different states to all migrant workers for the period economic activity is adversely impacted by lockdowns or restrictions.

(With ANI inputs)

MUMBAI: In the wake of the rising Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has officially deferred the third edition of the Mumbai T20 League for an ‘indefinite’ period of time. Despite getting the nod from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) postponed the league, citing both safety reasons as well as the interests of stakeholders as reasons.

“In view of the current Covid-19 pandemic situation in the country and keeping in mind the safety and interests of all the stakeholders involved, the Mumbai Cricket Association has decided to defer the conduct of 3rd edition of the T20 Mumbai League till further notice,” the MCA said in a media release.

Milind Narvekar in a separate tweet also wrote that the decision was taken to reduce the load on the authorities.

“Given the current situation, President Vijay Patil Ji and I, in my capacity as the Chairman, have decided to not conduct the T20 Mumbai League till further notice. This is our way to reduce the load on the machinery and also making sure everyone is safe,” tweeted Narvekar.

Since the Haryana government directed the police to take strict action against people found violating Covid norms, officials in the state have issued around 7.25 lakh challans for offenses like not wearing masks and not following social distancing norms. Fines worth about Rs 52 crore have been levied in Haryana in the last one year.

Owners and managers of hotels and other venues have also been issued challans and notices repeatedly, besides warning about sealing their establishments if they refuse to follow norms. However, despite this, people have flouted the rules, which has forced officials to impose sterner action against them.

Issuing an advisory on Thursday, Director General of Police (DGP) of Haryana, Manoj Yadava, also said that the widespread requirement of remdesivir injections and oxygen cylinders has become an ideal front for cybercriminals who are trying to manipulate people in need of these resources. Haryana Police cautioned citizens against such fraudsters who could dupe them on the pretext of providing oxygen cylinders and life-saving drugs through the e-commerce portal OLX and other social media platforms during the ongoing Covid crisis.

Amid rising cases of Covid-19, the state police has also launched a hotline 7087089947 and a toll-free number 1800-180-1314 where citizens can share any sort of information related to the black marketing of oxygen cylinders, remdesivir injections and other drugs being used for Covid treatment.