Walmart Foundation will donate Rs14.82 crore to support various NGOs in India
Global retail giant Walmart Inc announced its support to leverage resources for India’s battle against the second wave of COVID-19. According to a recent statement by Walmart on Friday, April 30, the Walmart Foundation along with Flipkart, PhonePe will collaborate to counter the medical-grade oxygen shortage and support the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive. Walmart will donate 20 cryogenic containers for oxygen transportation and storage, 20 oxygen-generating plants, and over 3,000 oxygen concentrators with 500 oxygen cylinders to ensure oxygen therapy for the treatment of patients.
The medical equipment will be sourced globally and donated to the hospitals and non-governmental organisations in India for distribution. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation will also fund extra 2,500 oxygen concentrators as part of the U.S-India Business Council and the U.S-India Strategic Partnership Forum’s joint relief effort.
According to the statement, the Walmart Foundation will donate Rs 14.82 crore to support various non-governmental organisations in India and a sum of Rs 7.41 crore will be allocated through the Walmart Foundation Disaster Relief Fund. The other amount – Rs 7.41 crore will be allocated to the GIVE Foundation Inc to assist GiveIndia’s COVID response fund. This will aid the physical infrastructure and equipment for the healthcare industry in India, prioritizing the most vulnerable communities.
Meanwhile, Indian e-commerce major Flipkart – acquired by Walmart in 2018, is partnering with GiveIndia to raise funds to provide crucial medical supplies such as PPE kits, oxygen supply, hand sanitizers, etc for the healthcare workers in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore.
At an earlier stage, Walmart, the Walmart Foundation along with Flipkart provided Rs 46 crore, in the form of financial support and in-kind to India. This included more than one million PPE, CPE kits or gowns, 88 ventilators, as many as 600,000 N95 masks, and other such contributions.
Additionally, Walmart Canada – the Canadian subsidiary, will offer support through the Canadian Red Cross India COVID-19 Response Appeal, to fund the transport and ambulance services for patients, quarantine isolation centers, etc.
Should an inheritance be strictly an inheritance, to be left to children when their parents die? Or should parents use at least some of that money while they’re still alive to help out their adult children financially? And if parents give while they’re alive, how much should they give and when?
Of course, every family is different—both in terms of what they can afford and what brings them joy. But there are some things every family should consider when deciding how to pass wealth from one generation to the next. The Wall Street Journal invited three financial advisers to discuss those issues:
Michael Garry,
founder of Yardley Wealth Management in Yardley, Pa.;
Jacqueline B. Roessler,
certified divorce financial analyst at the Center for Financial Planning in Southfield, Mich.; and
Tony Walker,
a retirement-planning specialist in Louisville, Ky.
Here are edited excerpts of the discussion.
WSJ: How do you advise clients on the topic of the timing of inheritance?
Michael Garry
MR. GARRY: I believe strongly that parents should dole out money while they are alive and not stockpile it any more than they need to for their own financial security. The people who make gifts during their lifetimes are able to help their children, and maybe grandchildren, at the exact time they likely most need the money, and not based on the random date of their death. They also get to see the benefit of the gift to their children and grandchildren. The extent of the gifts depends on how much the parents can afford.
MS. ROESSLER: It depends on their personal goals, tax situation and current financial needs, as well as the financial needs and tax situation of their heirs. First, they need to make sure they have enough resources to cover their own financial needs, including any potential long-term-care expense. Once that’s established, they should discuss gifting strategies with their adviser, keeping in mind the parents’ ultimate goals, such as minimizing income taxes and capital-gains taxes during their lifetime, spending down their assets to later qualify for Medicaid, or providing for their children’s specific financial needs.
MR. WALKER: I’m a firm believer that too many people save every penny until the day they die, instead of spending their money now. With so many savers maxing out contributions to their 401(k) plans, my concern is that most of them have no plan for using and enjoying their savings before it’s too late. There’s a struggle going on with my clients when I broach this subject of saving too much for the future. They wonder: Will their children be responsible with the money? There’s only one way to find out, and that’s throw them a bone now to see how they handle it.
WSJ:With the pandemic wreaking havoc on many families’ finances, have you seen families change the way they are thinking about inheritance?
MR. GARRY: Most of my clients are in much better shape than they were a year ago. Unfortunately, a lot of their children and grandchildren are not. We’ve seen a real uptick in people expressing gratitude in being so fortunate with their health and finances and not wanting to wait to help both their offspring and their favorite charities.
We’ve had people who have kicked the idea around for years but never did it who are actually taking steps now and making gifts. They seem to realize more than ever that they don’t know how much time they have, and some of their kids have been unemployed for much of the last year. I don’t think many of them ever expected to see their children hurting so much, and it has moved them.
Jacqueline B. Roessler
MS. ROESSLER: I haven’t seen families make dramatic changes to their legacy planning, at least not yet. However, as government aid ends, many millennials will be left without jobs and with increased expenses. In conversations with older clients, they are prepared to begin making adjustments in their gifting strategy to accommodate changing needs.
WSJ: Should there be strings attracted to parental giving?
MR. WALKER: This is a gift and shouldn’t come with any strings attached. Still, how your kids and grandkids react might certainly sway future considerations as to whether you wish to continue the gift-giving trend.
MS. ROESSLER: I think it depends on the family circumstances. Some parents may feel their children need guidance on how to wisely spend gifted dollars; others aren’t comfortable attaching any strings to gifts. One family I’ve worked with requires their adult children to donate a portion of their annual gift to a worthy charity. Another family specified that the gift must be used toward college costs for their children or major expenses such as a car or down payment on a home.
WSJ: How can parents who want to help their children while they are alive prevent themselves from becoming their children’s bank?
Tony Walker
MR. WALKER: Before starting the gift-giving trend, it is important for parents to speak about their finances frankly with their children. While you don’t have to take all of your financial clothes off, you need to be frank with them as to how you’re doing financially. As well, blend into the mix that you are very grateful for the way you have been blessed and your desire to share some of your good fortune with them now—at a time in life when they can use it—versus waiting until after you die. Also, never tell them that there’s more where that came from, as you might regret setting up such an expectation.
MR. GARRY: It makes it much easier to avoid being the bank if the child knows that the gift is for a specific purpose, like to pay their health insurance, or go toward their student loans, or make their IRA contribution or for a deposit on a property. I’ve also told my clients they can feel free to tell their children their financial adviser has said they can’t afford to make that gift or even make any more gifts, depending on the circumstances.
WSJ: What are some common mistakes you see parents making in deciding how to transfer wealth to their children?
Share Your Thoughts
Have you given any inheritance money to your kids? Why or why not?
MR. WALKER: Not understanding that the value of their 401(k) actually will go down over time. That is because between future taxes and inflation, the money they are stockpiling will be worth less then than it is now. Think about it: What if, instead of socking it all in a 401(k), you could give some money away to your kids now with no tax to them? Wouldn’t that make more sense?
MS. ROESSLER: Some parents give more than they can afford and wind up with an unintentional reduced standard of living. This can lead to marital tension when both spouses aren’t on the same page. There is also a substantial tax advantage to transferring stocks and mutual funds after death versus during your lifetime, though this could change under President Biden.
MR. GARRY: The biggest downsides come when gifts are given with no discussions around expectations. We had a client who, before coming to us, went through a bit of a rough patch with his son and daughter-in-law. He had made gifts for a few years to them around Christmas and he didn’t say anything about it other than “Merry Christmas!” Well, after three or four years of those gifts, the son and daughter-in-law expected them to continue. Without saying anything, he just stopped because he wasn’t in the financial position to continue. But they didn’t understand that and there was tension until they finally talked about why he had discontinued giving and they were able to heal the rift.
Ms. Winokur Munk is a writer in West Orange, N.J. She can be reached at [email protected].
India and Delhi Capitals cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin’s wife Prithi posted on social media to share how she and her relatives dealt with Covid-19 after a total of 10 people in her family tested positive for the virus. Ashwin had to take a break from IPL 2021 to support his family in the fight against Covid-19 – a disease that has already claimed over 200,000 lives in India and more than three million globally. Prithi said six adults and four children had contracted the virus in her family and the children were “the vehicles of transmission”
Take the vaccine. Give yourselves and your family the best chance to fight this.
— Wear a mask. Take your vaccine. (@prithinarayanan) April 30, 2021
I guess physical health will recover faster than mental health. Days 5-8 were the absolute worst for me. Everybody was there, offering help yet there’s no one with you. Most isolating disease. Please do reach out and seek help.
— Wear a mask. Take your vaccine. (@prithinarayanan) April 30, 2021
The headaches this virus causes need their own twitter thread.
— Wear a mask. Take your vaccine. (@prithinarayanan) April 30, 2021
Revealing that the family members were down with the virus in different cities and hospitals, Prithi urged her followers to get vaccinated and give themselves “the best chance to fight” the virus.
“I guess physical health will recover faster than mental health. Days 5-8 were the absolute worst for me. Everybody was there, offering help yet there’s no one with you. Most isolating disease. Please do reach out and seek help,” she said.
Several cricketers at the IPL bubble and outside have tested positive over the past two months, including Ashwin’s Delhi Capitals teammate Axar Patel, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Devdutt Padikkal and former India captain Sachin Tendulkar among others.
Ashwin, who played five matches this season and picked up one wicket, married Prithi in 2011 and the couple has two daughters.
Promoted
Off spinner and lower-order batsman Ashwin has played 78 Tests, 111 ODIs and 46 T20Is for India since his debut in 2010.
He has played 159 IPL games and has 139 wickets to his name.
Having multiple displays is a great productivity boost when you’re streaming, editing, or trying to distract yourself with a show in the background while grinding away in your favorite online game. It’s too bad Windows 10 makes them a chore to use.
For some reason, when you put a Windows computer to sleep while using two or more displays, open windows jump over to your main display when the system wakes up, forcing you to reorganize your layout every time you boot the PC from sleep mode.
Thankfully, Microsoft is working on a fix for the issue—which Microsoft calls Rapid Hot Plug Detect (Rapid HPD)—that keeps your open apps and folders where you left them before putting your PC in sleep mode. Microsoft assures the fix “is not limited to monitor manufacturer, hardware specs, connector type, or cable brand,” and applies to all Windows 10 PCs with multiple monitors and laptops connected to an external display, regardless of a user’s system settings.
The Rapid HPD fix will be released as part of the October 2021 update later this year, but those who can’t stand reshuffling their apps every time their PC wakes up can join the Windows Insider Program to get the update right now.
Note that the Windows Insider Program isn’t for everyone. While you get new features early, the test features are often unfinished, system bugs are more common, and you may have to update your PC more often. If you’re cool with those caveats, you can join the Windows Insider Program here.
G/O Media may get a commission
Windows Insider build 2187 (currently found on the Dev channel) should arrive for your PC shortly after you sign up for the Insider Program, but you can check for available system updates in Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, and click “Check for Updates.”
You can also check your Windows 10 version in Settings > System > About. The OS build number is listed under “Windows Specifications.”
Insider Build 2187 (or the October 2021 update later this year) is the only requirement for fixing the Rapid HPD issue. Once it’s installed, you should no longer experience the desktop reshuffle issue while using multiple displays.
If you often send sensitive and secretive information on Gmail and wish there was a way that could block people from forwarding the mail to someone else, then Gmail’s Confidential Mode could be an essential feature for you. It enables you to restrict people from downloading, printing, copy-pasting and even forwarding your mail and its attachments. Thus, giving you peace of mind and helping you keep your messages protected from getting leaked.
This feature also lets you set an expiration date, post which the content of the email automatically disappears so that the receiver can no longer view it. Additionally, you can choose to lock your sensitive emails and allow recipients to access the messages only when they enter a passcode that is sent to them by either an SMS or email. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use this feature on Gmail’s desktop version or mobile app. You can also check our guide on how to send drive files and make video calls on Gmail.
How to set an expiry date or passcode to an email on Gmail
On phone
On your Android phone or iPhone, open the Gmail app
Tap Compose, and in the top right corner tap Confidential mode. If you have already enabled confidential mode, you can go to the bottom of the email, then tap Edit.
Now, turn on Confidential mode. You can now set an expiration date for this mail for 1 day, a week, a month and even 5 years.
If you choose “No SMS passcode,” recipients using the Gmail app will be able to open the mail directly. But, if you want the receiver to enter a passcode before reading the mail to verify their identity, you can go to Require Passcode and choose SMS passcode. And, when you send this mail, you will be required to add a phone number. Just make sure you enter the recipient’s phone number, not your own.
Tap Done
On computer
Similarly, on Gmail’s desktop version, Click Compose.
In the bottom right of the window, click Turn on confidential mode. But, if you have already enabled it for an email, then go to the bottom of the email, then click Edit.
Now, to set an expiration date and passcode, choose “SMS passcode** and the recipients will get a passcode by text message.
Click Save.
How to open an email sent with confidential mode
If the sender used confidential mode to send an email, then you can view the message and attachments until the expiration date or until the sender removes access. And, remember that the options to copy, paste, download, print, and forward the message text and attachments are disabled, and you might need to enter a passcode to open the email.
Is OnePlus 9R old wine in a new bottle — or something more? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Later (starting at 23:00), we talk about the new OnePlus Watch. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.
Ever had a coworker you wanted to take from the boardroom to the bedroom? Of course you have. Office romances are the juiciest of forbidden tropes: You want to sleep with your colleague even more because you know you’re not supposed to.
Your grandparents might have met at work and caused absolutely no issues in doing so, but in the #MeToo era, things are different. Hooking up with a coworker can be awkward at best and disastrous at worst. Also, your company doesn’t want to deal with any power imbalance-related legal issues, so you already know your HR rep might be less than thrilled that you even Googled how to get away with this. (Hope you’re not using your work computer! You know they can monitor that, right?)
And yet, you, like so many office workers before you, may persist. With that in mind, read on to learn how to best hook up with a coworker… if you must.
Find out if they want you back
The first step here might seem obvious, but we all know from the past few years’ news coverage that there’s a big difference between two equals at a company hooking up and one powerful person lording their status over an inferior to get some gratification. Don’t be that person, ever. If you’re in a position of power over your work crush, don’t pursue it. Don’t waste your time. It’s unethical and it’s gross. It can also get you sued or cost you your job.
Conversely, if a person in a position of power over you is pursuing you, don’t be afraid to tell HR, especially if you feel conflicted or nervous their interest could somehow affect your job. (If you actually want to attempt to sleep your way to the top of your industry, maybe we’ll do a follow-up to this article in the future, but for now, that’s not what we’re here to discuss. Focus on doing your job well.)
It’s easy enough to feel out whether a colleague sees you in the same way or shares your fantasy of hooking up with a coworker. Office Christmas parties, post-work happy hours, and general banter on Slack can pretty much give you all the clues you need. If the object of your interdepartmental affections doesn’t seem into it, leave it alone. Don’t be a creep. Don’t make them dread coming to work. Find a different fantasy and let them do their job in peace.
Check the company handbook
Most companies don’t actually have rules against coworkers dating or hooking up. Despite what rumors you may have heard around the water cooler, it’s highly unlikely you can be fired for getting frisky with the person on the other side of your cubicle, though your employer might still hand down a few consequences.
“I have fired a lot of people for a lot of things,” said Laurie Reuttimann, a former human resources leader who recently published a work culture manifesto, Betting on You, and just so happens to have met her now-husband on the job. “I have never fired anybody for dating a coworker. Really, never. Not once.”
It’s different, of course, if you and your professional paramour have different amounts of power within the organization. In 2019, the CEO of McDonald’s was pushed out of the fast food giant after his consensual relationship with a lower-level employee was made known. The company forbids managers from having romantic relationships with subordinates.
Jo, a 28-year-old food service worker in the Midwest, also faced consequences—but again, not a firing—for becoming involved with a coworker at her restaurant. She told Lifehacker that once management found out, the two were placed on different schedules.
Decide whether or not to let the boss know
Whether you’re just hooking up or dating someone, every couple faces the “What are we?” conversation at some point. In the same way you have to mutually agree when to start posting each other on Instagram or meeting each other’s families in a standard relationship, if you’re seeing a coworker, you have to work together to decide if—and when—to let your boss and HR know.
Jo explained that she and the coworker she was dating decided to keep their relationship a secret from their colleagues. She doesn’t know how to this day, but the duo’s coworkers figured it out anyway, then ratted the lovers out to a manager, who confronted Jo and her new boyfriend separately.
“We had said that we were gonna deny it, but under pressure I told my boss the truth. We literally told no one so I honestly felt really uncomfortable that someone was so interested in what I was doing outside of work. Since we had agreed to deny it, when she confronted him right after, he told her we weren’t together,” she recalled.
That, obviously, only added more suspicion and drama to the situation. They were separated shortly thereafter, at least on the schedule.
“It’s so arrogant to assume that two people working an hourly job can’t be trusted to show up and work” if they’re hooking up, said Reuttimann, decrying that “paternalistic approach” as one of the reasons people hate their jobs in the first place. She said the decision to tell HR “depends on the type of relationship, the length of the relationship, and the intensity of the relationship,” and as a veteran of the industry, she has never particularly wanted to know if employees are involved unless it could pose a legal problem.
Be an adult
Don’t get handsy at work. Don’t bang at work. Don’t let your relationship or hookup status distract your colleagues, make them jealous, or draw any unwanted attention to your situation. This isn’t high school. You don’t have to let everyone know you’re getting it in, we promise, and if conquest-related clout is what’s really motivating you here, rethink your priorities, please. As Jo’s experience proved, your coworkers will probably figure your business out anyway, so don’t give them additional reasons to turn your hookups or relationship into the drama du jour.
While Reuttimann maintained she’s never fired anyone for an interoffice relationship, she said she has definitely had to ask lovers to “get [their] shit together” and grow up a little.
“As long as there’s no drama, nobody cares,” she said. “When you give people a reason to talk, then the talk gets to HR, and HR starts to get worried: ‘What if there’s a lawsuit? I don’t know why there would be, but what if there’s a lawsuit? What if people fight in the office?’”
That brings us to another important point: If you break up or stop hooking up, don’t let any animosity affect your work. Don’t fight in a break room. If you don’t think you could keep your conduct professional after a breakup, don’t pursue a work hookup at all.
Reuttimann has seen work breakups “over and over again,” and noted that they’re especially tricky because the parties involved still have to see each other every day through the grieving process. You’ll potentially be reminded of your ex-fling every time you walk to your desk, open your email list, or get drinks with colleagues after clocking out. You might even be part of such a close-knit team that you’ll learn, whether you want to or not, when they’re seeing someone new.
“But you know what?” she offered. “What if you live in the same neighborhood as someone [you break up with]? And you’re at the same grocery store? Breaking up is never easy, so while work does add dimensionality to it, it’s complicated no matter what.”
Enjoy yourself
The American employment experience is best summed up by Blink-182: “Works sucks, I know.”
Work does suck. We do know. Sometimes, you need a distraction or something to look forward to. You need a partner who understands what you deal with at your stressful job or can hang out around your demanding schedule. You might not have time to date someone outside of your organization if you’re filing overtime every week and pulling late nights at the office. There’s no shame in falling for—or just wanting to sleep with—someone with whom you already have so much in common.
Remember that if you and a coworker pursue one another, even just for a few romps, you should enjoy your time together. Life is short and work hours are long.
“Even if you’re working at the intersection of purpose and meaning, there are days of work that just suck, right? It can be a slog, even if you love what you do and it’s really a sign of optimism and a sign of hope that you can go to someplace for money that’s not always great and fall in love with someone, even if it’s just a brief fleeting moment of love,” mused Reuttimann. “I think that’s a really nice, sweet commentary on the human condition, that in any environment-good, bad, indifferent—we can still make really important meaningful connections.”
Bear markets haven’t gone extinct. They’ve evolved into teddy bears.
That’s what some investors seem to believe—and who can blame them? The stock market used to take years, sometimes decades, to recover its prior peak after the start of a bear-market decline. After last year’s 34% meltdown, however, stocks regained record highs in only 126 trading days.
With the exception of a 100-day rebound after an interim drop in early 2009, that’s the fastest-ever recovery to a prior peak. The S&P 500 has fallen at least 20%—the conventional definition of a bear market—26 times in the past nine decades, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Recoveries to previous highs have typically taken almost three years, often much longer.
Nobody likes losing money and waiting for ages to get it back. Then again, that kind of pain can be a blessing in disguise, by chastening investors who otherwise might take risks they ought to avoid.
Bear Minimum
While the stock-market decline of 2020 was fierce, with a 34% loss, it was also one of the shortest in history.
Last year’s bear market recovered after 126 trading days.
Percentage drop during bear market
The longest bear-market recovery took 7,262 trading days, until Sept. 22, 1954, to reclaim the previous high of Sept. 7, 1929.
Start of bear-
market decline
Recovery to
previous peak
Last year’s bear market recovered after 126 trading days.
Percentage drop during bear market
The longest bear-market recovery took 7,262 trading days, until Sept. 22, 1954, to reclaim the previous high of Sept. 7, 1929.
Start of bear-
market decline
Recovery to
previous peak
Last year’s bear market recovered after 126 trading days.
Percentage drop during bear market
The longest bear-market recovery took 7,262 trading days, until Sept. 22, 1954, to reclaim the previous high of Sept. 7, 1929.
Start of bear-
market decline
Recovery to
previous peak
Start of bear-
market decline
Recovery to
previous peak
Percentage drop during bear market
Last year’s bear market recovered after 126 trading days.
The longest bear- market recovery took 7,262 trading days to reclaim the previous high of Sept. 7, 1929.
Just look at a sample of more than 2,000 investors that the Vanguard Group has been surveying regularly since early 2017. Among other questions, Vanguard asks how likely the U.S. stock market is to lose at least 30% over the next year.
In February 2020, before the pandemic had fully hit home, these investors estimated the odds of such a bear market at an average of only 4%. By April, just after the S&P 500 had fallen by one third, their expectations that the market would plunge again in the coming year nearly doubled to 8%.
Those fears swiftly faded. By last December, investors in the Vanguard survey estimated the probability of another crash in the ensuing 12 months at only 5%. That was slightly lower than their average estimate during the three years before the pandemic.
It’s as if the speed of the recovery had erased the pain of the decline, or made a recurrence seem even more improbable. Just like that, a grizzly bear turned into what feels more like a teddy bear.
That complacency takes a toll—even among Vanguard investors, who tend to be cautious. These people often follow the philosophy of the firm’s late founder, Jack Bogle, who preached patience and repeatedly warned that stocks are risky. If anyone should come through the sharpest market decline in decades unperturbed, it’s the people in this survey—typically about 60 years old, with about $225,000 in Vanguard investments, roughly 70% in stocks.
Yet they didn’t all sit tight. One group in the survey stood out: those who went into early 2020 with the highest expectations for stock returns in the upcoming year. They ended up reducing their exposure to stocks much more sharply during the crash of February and March 2020 than those who had been expecting lower returns.
They also tended to turn around and buy back much of the stock they had just sold—but not until prices had already shot above the March lows.
Investors elsewhere seem to have concluded from the swiftness of the recovery that stocks aren’t risky at all. After last spring’s rebound, Dave Portnoy, a social-media celebrity, declared “Stocks only go up” so often that it began to seem like a magic incantation.
That’s largely because the Federal Reserve has backstopped markets by squashing interest rates toward zero and by buying more than $2.5 trillion in Treasury securities since February 2020, along with other massive interventions. Meanwhile, emergency government programs pumped trillions of dollars of stimulus into the economy.
Share Your Thoughts
Have you lost your fear of a bear market? Why or why not? Join the conversation below.
Fund managers fruitlessly complained about how these policies were distorting markets, but individual investors simply followed the old Wall Street adage: Don’t fight the Fed. So long as the central bank is drenching the markets with liquidity, why not buy stocks—and why fear another crash?
What’s more, target-date funds, which continually seek to keep a predetermined exposure to stocks, command in excess of $2.8 trillion, according to
Investors added $52 billion to target-date funds in 2020.
The popularity of these portfolios has—so far, anyway—helped make market crashes self-correcting. The more stocks fall, the more the target-date funds have to buy them; otherwise, the portfolios would fall below their mandated ratios of stocks to other assets.
None of that means, however, that grizzlies have forever been transformed into teddy bears.
“Sure, stocks only go up,” says
Rob Arnott,
founder and chairman of Research Affiliates, a firm in Newport Beach, Calif., whose investment strategies are used to manage about $160 billion world-wide. “They only go up—until they go down!”
This isn’t the first time people have thought that bear markets had been rendered extinct.
In the 1980s, a strategy called portfolio insurance was intended to truncate losses—until it failed to prevent the more than 20% drop on Oct. 19, 1987. In the late 1960s, a tidal wave of pension-fund money was sure to drive stocks ever higher—until they fell more than 45% in 1973-74. In the 1920s, a “new era” of technological disruption made caution look absurd—until stocks crashed by 89%.
The best way not to be overwhelmed by fear during a bear market is to retain a trace of it in bull markets, too.
As the spike in Covid cases continued in several parts of Telangana, the government decided to extend the night curfew. (AP Photo)
HYDERABAD: The Telangana government on Friday extended night curfew in the state till May 8 to check the spread of Covid-19. Chief secretary Somesh Kumar issued a Government Order (GO), extending the night curfew by a week. The curfew will be in force from 9 p.m. till 5 a.m. the next day. The government had, on April 20, imposed the night curfew till April 30. As the spike in Covid cases continued in several parts of the state, the government decided to extend the night curfew. The government also issued a separate order, extending restriction on the screening of shows in cinema theatres till May 8. The night curfew was extended hours after the matter came up for hearing in the Telangana High Court. The court had noted that the night curfew is coming to an end at 5 a.m. on May 1 but the government has not announced new measures to contain the Covid surge. The court asked the advocate general to inform it about the new measures proposed to be taken by the government to check the virus spread. The government had issued the earlier GO on April 20 after the high court gave 48 hours to decide on imposing night curfew or lockdown. The court had made it clear that if the government fails to take a decision, it will pass appropriate orders. As per the GO, all offices, firms, shops, establishments, restaurants etc. shall close at 8pm. Movement of all persons shall be prohibited from 9pm onwards. However, hospitals, diagnostic labs, pharmacies and those dealing with supply of essential services like print and electronic media, telecommunications, internet services, broadcasting and cable services, IT and IT enabled services, delivery of all goods through e-commerce, petrol pumps, LPG, CNG, petroleum and gas outlets, power generation, transmission and distribution, water supply and sanitation, cold storage and warehousing services, private security services and production units or services which require continuous process were exempted.
Reliance Jio Q4: Jio Platform’s revenue from operations stood at Rs 18,278 crore in March quarter
Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries’ telecom arm Reliance Jio reported a 47 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 3,508 crore on a consolidated basis in the January-March quarter of the financial year 2020-21, compared to Rs 2,379 crore in the corresponding period last year. According to a regulatory filing by the company to the BSE on Friday, April 30, the Jio Platform’s revenue from operations stood at Rs 18,278 crore in the March quarter marking a growth of 18 per cent, compared to Rs 15,373 crore in the same period last year. (Also Read:Reliance Industries Profit More Than Doubles To ₹ 13,227 Crore In March Quarter )
According to the statement, the value of services for the year stood at Rs 86,493 crore. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic-related challenges, Relinace Jio closed its first full year of operations with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization or EBITDA of Rs 32,359 crore.
Fake meat has come a long way in recent years—unless you don’t want a vegan burger that “tastes like beef,” in which case, basically nothing has changed. That’s a shame, because good veggie burgers kick ass. Flavor-wise, they’re more interesting and versatile than ground beef (real or plant-based) and they’re dirt cheap to make. Where’s the vegetable-based burger renaissance we deserve?
I guess until they get a little sexier, regular old veggie burger enjoyers will have to keep making our own. The only problem is that my favorite recipe, while a confirmed banger, is kind of a commitment. Sometimes I don’t have time to soak beans overnight and spend an hour reducing vegetables to a paste—but I’m always down to crush a black bean burger, so I developed a version that’s faster, easier, and every bit as delicious.
This recipe uses ingredients that regular people keep in their houses. There’s no chopping or mincing required—the most involved step is drying out the beans in a skillet to ward off mushiness. Your food processor takes care of the rest. Best of all, these burgers are ready in about 30 minutes flat, which I verified by testing them on a dangerously empty stomach.
You’re going to take one look at these instructions and think I’ve finally, truly, permanently lost it, but trust the process. Pulverizing oats, nuts, mayo, canned chiles, and bean juice makes a sort of mortar for the burgers, so they hold together surprisingly well without eggs or other binders. Oh, and they absolutely slap: Savory, a little spicy, crispy on the outside, and almost creamy on the inside—everything you want from a black bean burger.
Quick and easy black bean burgers
This recipe should yield 4 thin yet substantial patties. Feel free to make some common-sense substitutions: If you don’t have mayo, sour cream or ranch dressing will work great. A couple of large dried chiles, soaked and peeled, can easily stand in for the canned ones. And, of course, you should add or subtract seasonings to suit your tastes.
1/2 cup rolled or quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup nuts, any kind, toasted or raw (I used toasted walnuts)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise or vegan mayonnaise
1 4-ounce can roasted green chiles or 1 chipotle in adobo, drained
1 1/2 cups cooked black beans, homemade or from a 15-ounce can
2 teaspoons hot sauce of choice, or more as desired (my go-to is El Yucateco Black Label)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon adobo seasoning or garlic salt, plus more to taste
1-2 tablespoons water, as needed
Vegetable or olive oil, for cooking
Buns and condiments of choice, to serve
Place the oats, nuts, mayonnaise, and drained chiles in the bowl of a food processor. Add about 2 tablespoons of liquid from the beans. Pulse until you have a rough paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Let this mixture sit while you prepare the beans.
Thoroughly drain the beans and spread them out in a large nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron skillet. Cook over over medium-high heat for 5-8 minutes, stirring once or twice, until they’re totally dried out and starting to split. Taste one for seasoning and adjust as needed—canned beans usually need at least a little salt.
Scrape the hot beans into the food processor, add everything else except the water, and process until you have a relatively smooth paste. Take a little taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. If it holds together when pinched, you’re set. If it’s a dry, crumbly mess, throw in a tablespoon of water and process to combine. Generously wet your hands and form the burger mixture into 4 patties. (Some extra surface moisture helps prevent cracking and crumbling.)
Wipe out the bean skillet and heat it up over medium-low with a thin layer of vegetable or olive oil. Add as many patties as you can and let them cook until they’re dry on top and firm to the touch. This will take at least 4-5 minutes for thin patties and 6-8 for thick ones. They’ll fall apart if you flip them too soon, so don’t touch! Use the downtime to toast buns, slice onions and tomatoes, and get your other condiments ready.
Flip the burgers and cook until the underside is brown, another 3-5 minutes depending on thickness. Serve on toasted buns with your favorite toppings. If you have any leftover burger mixture, form it into patties and freeze on a parchment-lined sheet pan so they’re ready for your next bean burger craving.
