TMS Ep130: Smartphone production, EPF rate, markets, submarine cable

A sudden jump in Covid-19 cases has forced China to impose lockdown in at least 13 cities. One of them, Shenzhen, better known as  China’s Silicon Valley, is a hub for manufacturing electronic goods, including chips. Our next report tells about the impact it will have on Indian smartphone manufacturing.

From the dwindling chip supply, let us shift our focus to dwindling returns of Employees’ Provident Fund Organization. The world’s largest social security organization recently slashed the interest rate on EPF from 8.5% to 8.1% for 2021-22. This is the lowest rate in more than four decades. But hold on. It still holds the edge. 
 
Meanwhile, investors in India are worried about a possible interest rate hike by the US central bank today, which is under pressure to cap inflation. Most experts believe that a 25 basis point hike is already penciled in. So, will the markets look for cues elsewhere and chart out their course? 

Let us now move on from the market’s uncertain territory, take a pause and imagine a world without the Internet. The very thought of it may make you anxious. But the entire population of remote Pacific island nation, Tonga, went offline for over a month beginning this year. A tsunami had snapped the submarine cables, cutting the nation from the rest of the world. So what exactly are these undersea fiber cables and why they have become the backbone of connectivity? All answers in this episode of the podcast. 
 

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