After the Trinamool's overwhelming majority in the West Bengal assembly elections last year, the SSC scam has given fresh ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist. Ishita Ayan Dutt reports.

It's a busy season for Indian producers of orthodox tea. As Sri Lanka, the world's largest supplier of orthodox tea, struggles with its worst economic crisis, a window of opportunity has opened up in neighbouring India. Calls to Indian planters and exporters from foreign buyers of Sri Lankan orthodox tea are pouring in and the buoyant sentiment is reflecting in prices at auction centres. Orthodox tea refers to loose-leaf tea which is produced using traditional or orthodox methods such as plucking, withering, rolling, oxidation and drying.

ITC's first foreign venture in the hotel space - a premium and luxury mixed-use development - has been "adversely impacted" by Sri Lanka's economic crisis, the firm said. The $300-million project under WelcomHotels Lanka (Private) Limited (WLPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITC, comprises a luxury hotel and a super-premium residential apartment complex on 5.86 acres of prime sea-facing land in Colombo. In its latest annual report for financial year 2021-22 (FY22), ITC mentioned that the project's construction was running on schedule till the third quarter (Q3) of FY19, but was adversely impacted due to disruptions in the aftermath of the terror incidents in 2019 and thereafter by recurrent waves of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Apart from being the most successful cases under the IBC, Bhushan Steel and Essar Steel are among the best steel assets in the country. They also ended up helping their lenders get back a significant chunk of the money while allowing Tata Steel to consolidate its position and giving the world's two largest steel makers - ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel - a strong foothold in India. A significant contrast was the pace at which these two cases were resolved under the bankruptcy code. In the annals of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Essar Steel may go down in history as the most noticeable resolution with the world's largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, and the incumbent, Ruia family, locked in an intense battle spanning more than two years and ultimately resulting in full recovery of the principal amount for the financial creditors.

The country's first ever carmaker, Hindustan Motors, is looking at a second coming. Talks are on for a joint venture with a European auto company focused on the electric vehicle (EV) space. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed and due diligence is expected to start shortly and will take 2-3 months to conclude.

Over the past decade, a change in consumer choice swept through the battery industry - the walkman lost its mojo, smartphones took over cameras and batteries were tucked away in remotes and wall clocks that hardly needed frequent call-ups. The result: Brand Eveready lost mind space. And the company's attempt to stick to the on-ground marketing activities didn't quite help. But Eveready, now at the cusp of change, is putting things right - a new Give Me Red television commercial has been launched after a gap of 7 years featuring an empowered bride ski-diving to her wedding venue. The creative, according to Eveready sources, is in sync with the brand doctrine.

After the Ukraine war, coke prices just soared and most units don't have money left to buy raw material. Customers are not absorbing the price escalation'

As the economic crisis in Sri Lanka - the world's largest exporter of orthodox tea - continues to rage across the island nation, tea producers in India look to cash in on the opportunity to seize the market. The country's largest tea growing company, McLeod Russel India, expects orders to come in from July. "A huge opportunity is coming up for everyone in India. "McLeod Russel is well placed because we have the capacity for orthodox tea," said Azam Monem, director, McLeod Russel. About 10 per cent of McLeod's production is orthodox tea.

The words 'industry', 'industrial development', 'jobs', and 'employment' have been ringing with higher frequency since Mamata Banerjee stepped into her third term with landslide victory after a high-octane election last year. "Our government's next target is industrial development," the chief minister (CM) had been heard stating at different public meetings in the past few months - perhaps setting the tone for the sixth edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) slated for later this month. Investor summits by any state are about intent, big numbers, and tall claims. Yet in competitive federalism, its importance as a marketing tool is undeniable.

Raw material prices had been on the rise, but since Russia waged war on Ukraine, prices have surged.

Russia's war on Ukraine has sent steel prices soaring to its highest levels in the domestic market since November 2021. But there is little cheer in the industry. That's because input costs are spiralling out of control, leaving the big boys nearly as high and dry as the small, medium and secondary steel producers. Russia and Ukraine are major providers of steel and raw materials to the world.

When the world was upended by the Covid-19 pandemic, metals got its shine back. In the last two years, infrastructure spending by major economies spurred demand, energy transition and intermittent supply disruptions fuelled a scorching rally in metals after a downturn during the first Covid wave. Now, Russia's war on Ukraine is ensuring that elevated prices stay the course.

The change in ownership is expected to give a fresh lease of life to the company that has often been dragged by financial stress in its close to three-decade journey under the Khaitans, reports Ishita Ayan Dutt.

Russia is among the top buyers of Indian tea, accounting for about 18 per cent of the industry's total exports.

No longer Bengal's finance minister, Amit Mitra, Mamata's principal chief advisor, will still advise and aid the 'chief minister and finance department on all matters relating to management of state finance', represent the 'state government in national and international events/meetings/committees' and examine 'important proposals/files and policy issues relating to financial matters referred to him for advice/views'.

'The force of reforms. The force of investment. The force of formalisation. The force of digital and green technology. And the force of youth and entrepreneurship. I am convinced that these 5 forces will propel India's rise over the next several decades,' predicts Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla group.

'We went to the NCLT to facilitate payment and in our wildest dreams we had not imagined that this would result in such a severe action.'

It was a replay of the annual general meetings of the cable companies of the M P Birla group last month even as the Birla side raised "illegalities" in the latest poll results.

Naturally, the West Bengal chief minister is not leaving anything to chance, reports Ishita Ayan Dutt.

Last year, major tea companies performed well on the back of higher prices. However, a drop in prices over the past month and a half, is threatening to put a spanner in a repeat performance. Tea prices started on a strong note this year with prices ruling higher than last year on the back of crop loss due to adverse weather conditions. After mid-June, however, prices started dropping, though they are still higher than 2019-levels for north Indian teas (which account for more than 80 per cent of total production).