The Daily Dose: September 20, 2022

#End of the pandemic in sight? Virologist Gagandeep Kang says a major Covid-19 outbreak is unlikely, unless three factors strike together.

#Google chief on India commitment: Google CEO Sunder Pichai has held discussions with the Indian envoy in the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu about Google’s activities in India.

Google and its parent company, Alphabet have played an important role in the Covid-19 crisis last year. They put a lot of money in terms of supporting India, and they were a part of the global task force of American CEOs set up in this regard, the story points out.

#States and capital expansions plans: Capital expenditure of the 10 largest States has increased nine per cent in the June quarter of this fiscal compared to last year.

States like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat have spent more on capex during the quarter. But the details were not comparable with the previous year, the story notes, since the country was battling with the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Q1 FY22 and Maharashtra was among the worst hit.

#Cosmetics pin hope on festivals: Beauty and personal care companies are betting on the upcoming festival season with expectations of garnering strong double digit growth. This comes after two years marred by the pandemic where consumer mobility was hindered impacting the segment’s overall growth even as brands saw acceleration of online buying.

#Friendly neighbour: Without India we wouldn’t have lasted this long, says Sri Lankan High Commissioner, in the article. Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis with the government blaming the Covid pandemic, which badly affected Sri Lanka’s tourist trade, for battering its foreign exchange reserves. The country is expected to make a presentation to its international creditors this week giving details of plans for its debt restructuring and the multibillion-dollar IMF bailout.

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