Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 3:10 PM on Friday, March 1st, 2019
SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc.
(TSX-V: NAM) The company’s new Lithium Division has already made
significant acquisitions in Canada and the USA. The company also owns
one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in
Sudbury, Canada. Learn More.
NAM: TSX-V
———————
Riding the palladium wave, Implats to build new mine in 2021
This has all been down to a massive supply deficit that has existed since 2012 and the situation is expected to remain this way for the next few years.
JOHANNESBURG — The price of palladium
has been on a tear in recent months, overtaking the gold price. This
has all been down to a massive supply deficit that has existed since
2012 and the situation is expected to remain this way for the next few
years. Amid this backdrop, miner Implats
believes palladium isn’t in a bubble and that demand for the metal
could continue for the next few years to come. That’s why Implats is now
building a new palladium mine in the Waterberg that will come online in
2024. South Africa’s mining sector will certainly welcome this
development and, hopefully, it will help breathe new life into the
sector. Helping fuel Cyril Ramaphosa’s drive for jobs. – Gareth van Zyl
By Felix Njini
(Bloomberg) – Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd.
plans to start building a new palladium mine that could begin producing
as soon as 2024 as the company’s outlook for metals turns bullish.
Implats, as the second-biggest platinum miner is known, plans to start work on the Waterberg project
in South Africa in 2021, Chief Executive Officer Nico Muller said. The
producer is also considering boosting output at its jointly held Mimosa
mine in Zimbabwe by 30% as it bets on a long-term shift in
platinum-group metals prices, Muller said.
A surge in palladium prices
and a weaker rand is dispelling the gloom that gripped South African
miners just a year ago. The metal used in pollution-control devices for
car engines is forecast to remain in deficit for an eighth straight year
in 2019, and Implats isn’t the only company seeking new sources of
supply. The world’s top platinum supplier, Anglo American Platinum Ltd.,
is studying plans to ramp up palladium output through the expansion of
its flagship Mogalakwena mine.
“I believe the change in PGMs is structural and not cyclical, so we
are fully confident that the buoyant market we see today is going to
prevail for the next 10 years,†Muller told reporters in Johannesburg
after announcing earnings Thursday. “When you contemplate a project like
this, you have to have a long-range view, and we have a very bullish
position at the moment.â€
Despite a stronger market for platinum-group metals and improved liquidity, Implats is sticking with plans to restructure loss-making mines
at its Rustenburg complex, Muller said. Implats will evaluate options
to boost output in existing businesses and may consider assets outside
its current portfolio, the CEO said.
The shares have rallied 63% this year.
Implats will exercise its options to increase its stake to more than
50% from 15% of the Waterberg project, which is being developed jointly
with Platinum Group Metals Ltd. and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National
Corp. The deposit could produce about 450,000 ounces of palladium and
about 290,000 ounces of platinum a year, initial studies show. The high
proportion of palladium means raising money is unlikely to be a major
concern, Muller said.
“I don’t see financing to be a material barrier to our ability to execute the project,†Muller said.
Tags: palladium, stocks Posted in All Recent Posts, New Age Metals | Comments Off on New Age Metals Inc. $NAM.ca – Riding the #palladium wave, #Implats to build new mine in 2021 $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 11:20 AM on Friday, March 1st, 2019
Investment Highlights
Kenbridge property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14 million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper
17.5 (21.8 fully diluted) percent equity stake in Eloro Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property
Kenbridge Ni Project (ON, Canada)
Advanced stage deposit remains open in three directions, is
equipped with a 623m deep shaft and has never been mined.
Preliminary Economic Assessment completed and updated returned robust project economics and operating costs including a NPV of C$253M and cash costs of US$3.47/lb of nickel net of copper credits.
Plans for Kenbridge include updating PEA,
advancing the project through to feasibility and exploring the open
mineralization at depth
FULL DISCLOSURE: Tartisan Nickel Corp. is an advertising client of AGORA Internet Relations Corp.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:58 AM on Friday, March 1st, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
——————-
10 Major Blockchain Trends in 2019
While cryptocurrencies took a hammering, 2018 was huge for Blockchain, the technology that underpins Bitcoin and a myriad of other coins.
Blockchain has plenty of use cases outside of the cryptocurrency space with IBM, Oracle, and Amazon and other multi-billion dollar companies trying to capitalize on the disruptive technology.
Now, it’s time to find out what major Blockchain trends will define the current year.  Â
By: Alex Morris Â
From the Internet-of-Things (IoT) convergence to startups for the unbanked — find out what to expect from Blockchain in 2019
While cryptocurrencies took a hammering, 2018 was huge for Blockchain, the technology that underpins Bitcoin and a myriad of other coins. Blockchain has plenty of use cases outside of the cryptocurrency space with IBM, Oracle, and Amazon and other multi-billion dollar companies trying to capitalize on the disruptive technology. Now, it’s time to find out what major Blockchain trends will define the current year.  Â
STOs replacing ICOs
Security tokens (STOs)
have been a hot topic in the crypto space, and it looks like they will
continue to be hot now that Overstock’s tZERO announced the launch of
the new STO platform on Jan. 21. The Blockchain-powered platform will
provide any company with the opportunity to raise funds by launching its
own STOs. Prior to that, the startup made an announcement about the
completion of its utility token distribution.
STOs, which combine the best features of the stock market and
cryptocurrencies, arose as a fully regulated alternative to ICOs, which
turned out to be the passing fad of 2017.
Tokenization creating more investment opportunities
The launch of the Estonia-based DEX,
which buys the shares of the biggest companies in the world in the form
of ERC20 tokens, proved that 2019 is all about tokenization. The
Ethereum-powered startup will allow non-US investors to engage in the US
stock market without any limitations pertaining to their location or
investment amount.
Crypto startup Zilliqa also recently introduced Hg Exchange, a fully regulated exchange that allows accredited investors to buy US stocks.
Tokenization already became a pervasive trend in 2018, going far
beyond the stock market, but this is the year when pretty much
everything will be tokenized – art, wine, real estate, etc.
Blockchain and IoT forming an alliance
Back in January, leading digital security company Gemalto released a report
that states that 23 percent of responders think that Blockchain
technology could be a boon for securing IoT-powered devices. Meanwhile,
almost 91 percent of businesses who do not utilize Blockchain consider
making use of the technology in the future.
The number of IoT-powered devices is expected
to reach 26.66 bln in 2019, but less than half of all businesses can
detect whether their device experienced a security breach.
IBM also illustrated the benefits for this convergence with the help of
their game-changing platform Watson IoT. Apart from bringing more
security to the table, Blockchain significantly simplifies the task of
managing different devices and increases the efficiency of the
transaction.
Wall Street transitioning from dabbling to actions
The fact that cryptocurrency prices took a nosedive in 2018 doesn’t
mean that the global financial industry is going to suddenly give up on
Blockchain. As U.Today reported earlier, Bakkt,
the ICE-backed exchange, was supposed to go live in January, but its
launch was eventually delayed due to the longest government shutdown in
history. Speaking of other ‘big-fish’ players, NASDAQ and the NYSE
plan to launch Bitcoin futures while also being keen on Blockchain.
Since the crypto hub died down, there is a good reason to believe that
2019 will be the year of exciting developments in the Blockchain space.
More decentralized exchanges appearing on the horizon
Decentralized exchanges, while actually living up to Satoshi’s
vision, have numerous usability issues that take a toll on their
popularity. There is no centralized authority that manages the users’
funds, but it’s also a double-edged sword problem – there is no way to
revert a certain transaction if private keys are stolen or lost. Keep in
mind that there are certain degrees of centralization. Case in point:
the Bancor DEX, which suffered from a $13.5 mln hack, though Charlie Lee later claimed that no decentralized exchange can lose its funds.
With that being said, major crypto startups – from Binance to Tron – have launched their own DEXs in order to spearhead the shift towards decentralization in the crypto world.
Governments will continue looking into Blockchain
The wide variety of Blockchain applications are being explored by
governments across the globe (even those ones who are openly hawkish
towards cryptocurrencies). China cracked down on Bitcoin, but this
country is hell-bent on becoming the leader in the Blockchain race.
Shanghai, Guangzhou and other major cities are all supporting Blockchain
developments. As reported by U.Today, the Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology (MIIT) launched
an initiative to incentivize business who are working with the DLT
technology. Moreover, there are specific Blockchain guides in China for
educating government officials.
Estonia is yet another country
that is focused on the e-Estonia program that will digitize the
government. Meanwhile, Dubai could become the very first government that
is powered by Blockchain. The implementation of Blockchain could help Dubai save up to $1.5 bln per year by cutting the red herring and creating a fully paperless government.
Blockchain-powered startups banking the unbanked
Africa, where a substantial part of the population remains unbaked,
represents a breeding ground for different startups that utilize
Blockchain technology in order to increase economic inclusiveness. The Rohingya Project
went even further by using Blockchain to restore the identity of
stateless Rohingyas and give them access to banking services.
Real-word use cases beyond fintech
It is worth noting that Blockchain is the most disruptive technology
of the last decade, but it remains unknown to the general public. Yes,
along with Bitcoin, Blockchain was one of the buzzwords in the tech
space, but it’s all about real-world adoption. According to PwC research,
84 percent of companies have dipped their toes into Blockchain, but
they are not ready to embrace it due to numerous ‘trust issues.’ Those
who will be able to integrate Blockchain into their businesses will turn
out to be the true winners of 2019.
Scalability becoming one of the main issues
Without a doubt, scalability is one of the major bottlenecks of
Blockchain, which poses a major hindrance to mainstream adoption. That
became very evident when CryptoKitties, one of the best-known dApps,
created congestion on the Ethereum network. Bitcoin and Ethereum are
only able to handle seven and 25 TPS (this level of scalability doesn’t
hold a candle to mainstream payment processors in the likes of VISA).
Hence, many promising solutions, such as sharding and sidechains, are expected to be implemented in 2019. Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN),
for example, is witnessing growing popularity with major industry
players, with an eye-popping 830 percent surge in half a year. LN will
significantly boost Bitcoin adoption while solving scalability pain
points.
Blockchain jobs will become more common
Despite Bitcoin, the major use case of Blockchain, taking a hammering
in 2018, the number of Blockchain-related jobs continued to grow
throughout the year. Moreover, as reported by CNBC,
the salaries of Blockchain engineers skyrocketed to $175,000 per year,
which means that they receive the highest salaries in the software
development niche on par with AI specialists. According to Hired CEO
Mehul Patel, ‘there’s a ton of demand for Blockchain.’ On top of that,
Upwork, the leading freelance platform, had a 35,000 percent uptick in
the number of Blockchain freelancers (it’s the fastest-growing freelance
sector).
However, earning a six-figure salary is not an easy feat. Blockchain developers
have to code in numerous languages, including Go and Solidity. As
mentioned above, major companies do not want to miss the boat on
Blockchain, so they are striving to hire talented programmers.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 4:54 PM on Thursday, February 28th, 2019
NOTICE: Iconic Minerals – Fox Business Network – Thursday, February 28, 2019
The Company would like to give notice to its shareholders that the Company’s CEO (Richard Kern) will be featured on national Fox Business Network on Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 9:46 PM Eastern, 8:46 PM Central, 7:46 PM Mountain and 6:46 PM Pacific Time.
In this five minute segment, Richard Kern will be providing comments on
the lithium industry while onsite in Nevada, at the Bonnie Claire
property.
Please keep in mind that the allotted time slot may not be exact, and
the segment could air within an hour of the above scheduled times.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 4:27 PM on Thursday, February 28th, 2019
(TSXV: ICM) (OTC Pink: BVTEF) (FSE: YQGB)
Why Iconic Minerals?
Bonnie Claire Lithium property hosts 11.8 Billion pounds of lithium carbonate equivalent (28.5 Million tonnes of LCE) Inferred Resource (43-101).
Potential to be the largest lithium resource globally (based on size)
Initial leaching tests applying dilute acid to the drill cuttings resulted in recoveries as high as 98%.
Two other highly prospective Lithium exploration properties also located in Nevada.
Lithium Projects
Iconic Minerals has three highly prospective Lithium exploration
properties located in Nevada, the Bonnie Claire Sarcobatus Valley
Lithium property, the Smith Valley Creek Property, and the Third Nevada
Lithium Property.
Bonnie Claire Property
Property Overview
11.8 Billion pounds of lithium carbonate equivalent (28.5 Million tonnes of LCE) Inferred Resource (43-101).
Potential to be the largest lithium resource globally (based on size)
Bonnie
Claire is a 100% owned lithium brine property comprising of 23,100
acres of contiguous placer claims, currently in control of 28.75 square
miles (75 km2) located in Nye County, Nevada.
Property
area is contained within a valley that is 60kms from the only producing
lithium mine in North America (Albermarle Silver Peak Mine).
Over +20 miles (+30 km) long and 12 miles (20 km) wide into which streams from an +800 mi2 (2,070 km2) drainage basin empty.
Sampling of salt flats within the basin, have found lithium values in salt samples yielding up to 340 ppm.
Current
claim block covers the gravity low and associated mud flats that could
be used for evaporation ponds if significant lithium brines are
discovered in drilling.
Preliminary NI 43-101 Technical Report completed Read More
A total 5,550 feet has been drilled at the Bonnie Claire with an average 963+ppm from four drill holes
Great infrastructure
Local end-users
Property Details Snapshot
Drainage Basin (20 x 30 kms)
830 square miles
Gravity Lows (length)
20 x 30 kms
Valley Sediment (Range)
460 – 610m (1,500 to 2,000ft)
BLM Drilling Permits
Drilling Program
Drilling completion of first of three test wells
Smith Creek Valley Property
Controls 808 placer claims totaling 25.25 square miles (65.4 km2) over a major gravity low.
The enclosed Smith Creek Valley Basin covers 582 square miles (1,507
km2), which is slightly larger than Clayton Valley Basin where lithium
brines are produced.
Smith Creek Valley is over +40 miles (+64 km) long in a north-northeast direction and averages 9 miles (14.5 km) in width.
The vast majority of rock weathering into the basin is felsic ash flow tuff, which is an excellent source of lithium.
Lithium Brine Benefits
Lower Cost Exploration
Easy access because flat and arid
Decreased environmental impact
Shorter Timeline to Production
Requires Less Capital
Lower Cost Production than bedrock
Found beneath salt flats in brine bearing aquifers
Easily pumped to Surface from vertical production well
After evaporation lithium recovered in small on site mill
Potassium may also be recovered
Nevada is a Geopolitically Stable Jurisdiction
Gold Projects
The company’s Gold exploration portfolio includes the Hercules
property in the Como mining district, 17 kms from the famous Comstock
Lode mine, the New Pass property in the New Pass mining district, and
the Squaw Creek property located in the northern area of the Carlin
Trend.
Situated within and on the margins of the Como mining district, located in Lyon County, Nevada.
Como district was worked as early as the late 1850s, before the
famous Comstock Lode deposit was discovered about 10 miles (16 km.) to
the north by prospectors following float upstream from placer gold
deposits at Dayton.
By the early 1860’s the Como district was abandoned due to the rich
lodes having been discovered at Virginia City (Russell, 1981).
In the late 1880’s the Hercules Mining Company explored the occurred
with the excavation of another 1,500 feet (450 m) of underground
workings.
Gold and silver property which, is comprised of 107 unpatented lode mining claims (2,231 acres).
The property is located in eastern Churchill County, Nevada; in the
New Pass Mining District, 27 miles west of Austin, Nevada and 105 miles
east of Reno.
Iconic Minerals has a controlling interest in the property, in a
joint venture with White Knight Gold U.S. Inc., (now U.S. Gold), with
Iconic earning a 50% interest.
Property
is located 42 miles due north of Battle Mountain, Nevada and lies
between the Midas and Ivanhoe mining districts on the northern portion
of the Carlin Trend, six miles north of the Dee Mine in the Lower Plate
Bootstrap Window.
Iconic’s Research and Development partner
St-Georges’
metallurgists report that they have successfully improved the
concentration of lithium in the Sediments, originally reported in
December using mechanical separation and selective leaching of other
elements within the Sediments.
The
additional tests St-Georges completed in Stage 2, through selective
leaching methods, have improved the elimination of barren material from
55% to 85%-88%, while retaining 100% of the lithium.
Upon
completion approximately 12% to 15% of the original material remains
for further processing and purification. This process may significantly
reduce the cost of production.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:38 AM on Thursday, February 28th, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
——————-
A blockchain-based home equity loan platform, Figure, has raised $65 million from various major financial and venture capital firms, tech news site TechCrunch reports on Feb. 27.
The firm, which was founded by SoFi founder and former CEO Mike Cagney, reportedly raised the funds from such majors as Morgan Creek, DST Global, DCM, Ribbit Capital and Nimble Ventures. The recent investment bumps the total funds raised by the firm up to $120 million, according to TechCrunch.
Cagney’s new firm, which reportedly has issued over 1,500 equity
lines, is purportedly targeting older clients who are “cash light and
rich in equity†or “CLAREs.†The company is currently lending $1.5
million per day, a figure which Cagney expects to double every few
months, reports American Banker.
The founder told American Banker, “At the end of 2019, Figure should
look like a robust financial platform that can meet the needs of our
customers.” Cagney also added that Figure is moving into other areas
like wealth management, checking accounts, and unsecured consumer loans.
Cagney’s former company SoFi is partnering with major United States-based crypto exchange Coinbase
to roll out crypto trading support. The partnership with Coinbase will
purportedly allow SoFi to launch crypto services by the second quarter
of this year. CEO Anthony Noto said in an interview:
“Our target audience wants to see what the price of cryptocurrency
is, and to buy it. They have a desire to do that and in many cases they
already are.â€
Noto assumed the role of SoFi CEO after Cagney stepped down amid sexual harassment allegations in 2017. Cagney told American Banker:
“One of the biggest takeaways is that at SoFi, we grew so fast and we
never really understood what we were going to grow into, and culture
never took a front seat. [At Figure] we have a very clear adherence to a
‘no-asshole’ policy.”
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 1:07 PM on Wednesday, February 27th, 2019
SPONSOR: Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc.
(TSX-V: EGLX) Uniting gaming communities with 80 owned and affiliated
websites, currently reaching over 75 million monthly visitors. The
company partial 2018 reported revenue of $7.4 million representing a
625% increase over the same period in 2017.
EGLX: TSX-V ———————————-
G2 Esports raises $17.3 million for global growth and further investment
Competitive gaming firm G2 Esports has raised $17.3 million.
In a blog post, the esports organisation confirmed it had closed out the latest round of funding, bringing its total investment to $24.5 million to date.Â
G2 Esports owns 11 teams across various competitive games, including
Counter-Strike, League of Legends, Hearthstone and Playerunknown’s
Battlegrounds.
The investment was headed up by New York private equity firm Seal
Rock Partners, with participation from Everblue Management. G2 Esports
stated that it plans to use the funds to push ahead with global
expansion, pay franchise fees and further its own business and content
investments.
“After an incredibly successful 2018 where we positioned ourselves as
one of the leading entertainment assets in esports, G2 is doubling down
on international growth and continuing our investment in world-class
content creation,†said co-founder and CEO Carlos Rodriguez said.
“We have partnered with the right investors, who have a deep
understanding of a variety of entertainment industries, and significant
experience in scaling successful companies and brands.â€
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:32 AM on Wednesday, February 27th, 2019
SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc.
(TSX-V: NAM) The company’s new Lithium Division has already made
significant acquisitions in Canada and the USA. The company also owns
one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in
Sudbury, Canada. Learn More.
NAM: TSX-V
———————
Palladium: The most precious of precious metals
For the first time in more than a decade, palladium is rivalling gold in value.
At its current spot price of just over US$1 300/oz, reaching as high
as $1 400/oz in January 2018, it has truly become the most precious of
the precious metals, writes CHANTELLE KOTZE.
Demand has been primarily driven by the automotive industry through the “demonisation” of diesel engines in Europe.
The resultant growth in small petrol engines and hybrid engines,
which are fitted with emission-reducing catalytic converters that
require it as a catalyst to control pollution, along with the shift away
from diesel engines, has benefitted the material.
Moreover, the Volkswagen emissions scandal has negatively impacted the European diesel market and platinum prices.
According to Michael Jones, the President and CEO of TSX-listed
Platinum Group Metals, the developer of the Waterberg palladium-dominant
project in South Africa, it has become apparent that the electric
vehicle revolution has been a major factor driving demand.
While adoption rates of electric vehicles are expected to increase
anywhere between 8% and 10% by 2023, Jones stresses the importance that
at least half of these new electric vehicles will be hybrid electric
vehicles as opposed to full electric vehicles and will therefore still
require the use of palladium in the catalytic converter.
Moreover, China’s tougher new vehicle emissions standard, the China
VI emission standard, released in June 2018, means that cars will
require more robust catalytic converters that are able to meet the new
emissions legislation – another factor that may require increased
palladium during manufacture in order to minimise emissions.
According to data from German chemicals giant BASF, the China VI
emission standards is expected to create an additional 1 Moz of
palladium demand annually by 2020, which Jones believes the market is
already experiencing.
From the 2.2 Moz of palladium estimated to be required in the
manufacture of Chinese cars in 2018, palladium demand is estimated to
grow to 3.1 Moz by 2020, says BASF.
These figures are not based on the amount of new vehicles, but rather
the impact of the change in the standard for emissions which will
require increased amounts of palladium in its manufacture to ensure the
longevity of the catalyst.
While Jones notes that this may cause car manufacturers to substitute
out of palladium back into platinum as a cheaper alternative, it may
take several years for this change to come into effect and have a
physical impact on the price of palladium.
This being said, palladium is also a much more attractive metal for
autocatalysis, particularly in hybrid (petrol) electric vehicles, he
adds.
Moreover, with palladium being relatively rare, mined mainly as a
by-product of nickel and platinum mining, it may take a while for demand
fundamentals to slow should catalytic converter demand slow, says
Jones.
This increasing demand, combined with constrained long-term supply,
has caused a deficit in palladium supply which has been the key driver
in palladium’s high prices – a price trend which experts expect to
continue.
Despite weakening automotive sales in key markets, stringent
emissions controls are expected to sustain demand as governments seek to
improve their emissions targets.
Jones expects this demand to continue well into the foreseeable future due to tight supply.
Budget 2019 likely to boost India’s education sector
Published: February 23, 2019
India’s Annual Budget decides the way ahead for different sectors in the country.
Government has emphasised on education along with other sectors.
How the Budget 2019-20 will pave way for improvement in education sector
Akhil Shahani, Managing Director, The Shahani Group
The acting Finance Minister, Piyush
Goyal said that India is among the youngest nations in the world and the
Government is proud of its youth. The problems of India’s education
sector are well known, so how effectively has he addressed this major
issue for India’s youth in the 2019 interim budget.
Overall funding for school and higher
education has gone up by 10 percent to Rs 93,847.64 crore. However, this
could be considered insufficient considering India’s inflation rate of
6-7 percent. The newly constituted Higher Education Funding Agency
(HEFA) will receive 24 percent less funding for the coming year.
Considering that IIT’s, IIM’s and other central universities have been
asked to get loans from HEFA instead of depending on Government grants,
this reduced funding could limit their efforts to expand or improve
quality.
Goyal said in his Budget speech, “The
poor have the first right on the resources of the nation. The Government
while maintaining the existing reservation for SC/ST/Other Backward
Classes, have now ensured 10 percent reservation in educational
institutions and Government services for poor. In these institutions,
around 25 per cent extra seats (approximately 2 lakh) will be provided
so that, there is no shortfall of presently available/reserved seats for
any class.†So, he has asked institutions to increase their student
capacity by 25 percent but has not allocated extra funds for them to do
so. A couple of minor announcements included the establishment of an
institute for Artificial Intelligence and a new AIIMs in Haryana.
Overall, it could be argued that 2019’s
budget could have done a lot more for the education sector. For example,
the Government has provided free healthcare for 50 crore people via its
Ayushman Bharat scheme. It could have launched another scheme that
provides scholarships for students to study in any quality institution
of their choosing, instead of being limited to Government schools.
Additionally, the Government could have allowed private investment into
for-profit companies to setup schools and colleges. Funds for teacher
training, primary research in universities and student career guidance
could also have been allocated. The GST rate of 18% on digital education
could have been slashed or removed.
Based on the above, are there any aspects of the 2019 budget that could facilitate growth in the education sector?
Albert Einstein once said, “Within every
difficulty, lies opportunityâ€. The fact that the education sector’s
problems remain mostly unaddressed, offers interesting prospects for
education entrepreneurs. Having a look at the other parts of the budget
speech indicates what some of those opportunities could be for education
entrepreneurs.
The first aspect is that Rs. 60,000
Crore has been allocated for the MNREGA scheme which provides 100 days
of paid employment for rural households. Additionally, the Government
has launched the PM Kisan program which allocates Rs. 75,000 crore in
cash grants to around 12 crore farmers. The key aspects about both these
programmes are that rural families will be able to raise themselves out
of extreme poverty and aspire for a better life.
One of the most common actions done by
aspiring families is to find ways to educate their children so that they
will be able to live better lives than their parents. Interestingly,
many of these parents prefer to send their children to private schools
as they believe that the education offered is better than what is
available in free Government schools, which have high teacher
absenteeism and unsatisfactory education outcomes. This means that there
are opportunities for entrepreneurs to open private budget schools
charging fees of Rs 100-200 per month per child, which is within the
reach of many of these families.
The past years have seen an 11 percent
drop in student enrollment in Government schools and a 36 percent
increase in enrollment in these private budget schools, totaling around
16 million students. This shows that there is a great demand from lower
income families for low cost quality education for their children.
Private budget schools do not get funding from the Government, but are
able to turn a profit, even with the low level of fees charged.
Additionally, a few NBFCs have recognized the potential of this sector
and have started advancing loans to budget schools to enable them to
grow.
Another interesting point in the budget
speech was that mobile data consumption has increased by 50 percent in
the past five years. This is because India has among the lowest rates
for mobile data in the world. The Government aims to create 1 lakh
digital villages in the next five years, which will greatly increase
mobile data penetration in these locations. This means that a huge
number of people in small towns and villages will be able to easily
access education content via their mobile phones and facilitate their
own learning. Edtech entrepreneurs can then beam their online lessons
into the budget schools around India, to enhance the teaching provided
there. Vocational training providers can offer video lessons showing
subscribers how to develop useful job skills.
Much of existing online education
content is in English. However, as demand for online education increases
across the country from lower income groups, there is a huge
opportunity to provide this content in local languages to make it easier
to understand. Additionally, English language training via apps or
videos are also in high demand.
Even though the 2019 budget has not
given any real sops to the education sector, the increase in access to
mobile data among poorer Indians whose income is being supplemented by
the Government can offer great growth opportunities for Indian education
entrepreneurs.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 3:45 PM on Tuesday, February 26th, 2019
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A Wall Street bank just started covering 7 marijuana stocks. Here’s what it’s saying
Last year was a historic one for legal-marijuana proponents due to legalization in Canada and some US states.
Marijuana stocks are popular on Robinhood, a free-trading app popular among millennials.
On Monday, Jefferies became the second major Wall Street investment bank to write sell-side notes on popular weed companies.
A Wall Street bank has officially initiated coverage of cannabis
stocks, as high-flying cannabis companies have caught the attention of
both the Main Street and Wall Street following a wave of marijuana
legalization.
Last year was a historic one for legal-marijuana proponents. Canada and the state of Michigan legalized the recreational use of marijuana, and the US Congress passed the Farm Bill, which legalized hemp, a key source of the ingredient cannabidiol.
Additionally, major marijuana producers such as Cronos Group, Canopy Growth, Tilray, and Aurora Cannabis
were listed in the US last year, prompting investors, especially
younger ones, to pour money into the industry. On Robinhood, a
free-trading app popular among millennials, Aurora has outranked all other stocks including Apple in terms of the number of users who own shares.
As the demand for market insights into marijuana stocks grows,
Jefferies analysts Owen Bennett and Ryan Tomkins have started to write
sell-side notes on popular weed companies. Jefferies is the second major
Wall Street investment bank to cover the industry, after Cowen.
Tags: Hemp, stocks Posted in All Recent Posts, North Bud Farms Inc | Comments Off on North Bud Farms Inc. $NBUD.ca – A Wall Street bank just started covering 7 marijuana stocks. Here’s what it’s saying $WEED.ca $CGC $ACB $APH $CRON.ca $HEXO.ca $TRST.ca $OGI.ca
