Shekhar Gupta's anthology is a valuable addition to our understanding of the seeming muddle that is India... The experience of reading his columns is more like a chat with a friend in the afterglow of an enjoyable drink, but never frivolous, says Shreekant Sambrani.
It's not every day that an undergraduate from India wins a scholarship to study at one of the prestigious universities in the world.
With intense competition in telecom sector, the two companies are rushing to diversify into other revenue streams, prominent among which are cloud services.
India's economy could prove to be the "most resilient" in the subregion of South and South-West Asia over the long term, according to a report by the UN, which says a positive but lower economic growth post COVID-19 pandemic and the country's large market will continue to attract investments. The report titled 'Foreign Direct Investment Trends And Outlook In Asia And The Pacific 2020/2021', and compiled by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), stated that inward FDI flows to South and South-West Asia slightly decreased by 2 per cent in 2019, from $67 billion in 2018 to $66 billion in 2019. The growth, however, was mainly driven by India, which accounted for 77 per cent of the total inflows to the subregion and received $51 billion in 2019, up 20 per cent from the previous year.
'No Budget has so far has addressed the issue of the government's abysmal productivity of capital spending, improving which will be the big game changer. 'But, the government's tight lock on businesses, banks, education, and even essential services like transportation and large parts of infrastructure and healthcare is destroying capital year after year,' points out Debashis Basu.
'Nirmalaji's Budget announcements have long-term implications and are not backed by enough money when the short-term outlook looks bleak,' notes T N C Rajagopalan.
In the aviation sector, 100 per cent FDI is allowed under automatic route for MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul), ground handling, and aircraft purchase.
The National Technical Research Organisation, the ambitious project to protect India's cyber space, is all set to roll out in May. However, experts are sceptical on how the government will maintain a balance between cyber security and civil liberties, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
On the present government's 'Make in India' campaign, C Rangarajan, former chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, says it is important to first ask for whom it is being made.
From tackling cyber threat to having an an unmanned tank, there's so much DRDO wants to do
The Bill says that the central government, in consultation with the Data Protection Authority, can direct any data fiduciary or data processor to provide non-personal data to enable better targeting of delivery of services. The government can also ask data processors to provide data for formulation of evidence-based policies for its own use.
Ministry of home affairs and the IT ministry are planning to have a series of discussions with representatives from Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Google on issues around national security and the problem of fake news. Asking for decryption keys from WhatsApp to track conversations on the chat app is also part of the agenda.
If Modi rethinks on pro-biz policies, investors will suffer.
The strategic illiteracy on display in the arguments put forth on the Rafale deal before the Supreme Court is breathtaking, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'The media today is completely free from the government-induced fear factor.' 'It is only scared of the public backlash and its TRP ratings,' say Sudhir Bisht.
Stepped up public expenditure must be accompanied by focused policies, advises Vinayak Chatterjee.
The exponential number of downloads can be attributed to a call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking people to have the app on their mobiles, combined with the government's push for downloading of the app through other channels, reports Neha Alawadhi.
BSE proposes two models for making gold trading and investment transparent
Has Modi -- after announcing the life-crushing demonetisation, the abrogation of Article 370 and the CAA/NPR/NRC without any consultation -- suddenly realised the value of taking everyone on board, asks Krishna Prasad.
If money allocations, investment commitments are a sign of better things to come, the state can be optimistic.
India has become world's 2nd largest mobile phone: Modi
The new move is expected to help boost employee morale.
The e-Visa facility is available to visitors from about 44 countries.
The Budget emphasises on capacity building and empowerment of marginalised sections of society including farmers.
India, South Korea sign 7 agreements to boost cooperation.
Foxconn is the world's largest contract manufacturer for electronic goods and makes iPhones for Apple and smartphones for its Chinese rival Xiaomi.
Indian firms feared they would lose business if US ratified the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement with 11 other countries.
Ecommerce firms will have it tough as govt turns down FDI proposal.
Power transmission infrastructure in 18 major cities could be potentially hacked.
The road will help in transportation of goods and further development of SMEs in North East India
25,600 cases of banking fraud totalling Rs 1.79 billion were reported up to December 2017. 'There is an inherent legacy when it comes to insuring crime.' 'Generally, most banks are uncomfortable in sharing data about employee fraud.'
'Today's India is fearless and is on track to be a great power. But this is definitely not happening without women, who form 48 per cent of our population.'
In fact, given the current tensions and massed troops on both sides, there is a danger that the LAC will become more like the Line of Control with Pakistan, a heavily fortified and strongly defended border where weapon fire exchanges regularly occur. Indeed, Stratfor Worldview research has listed a sharp increase in new Chinese facilities along the LAC in 2019-20.
'It disappoints and saddens me no end that Mahua has allowed herself to be carried away by the Goebbelsian onslaught mounted on the BJP and Narendra Modi by certain vested interests which find themselves exposed and thrown out of the gravy train,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
'It needed political courage on the part of the prime minister to make such an intervention at the present juncture when the hawkish opinion rules the roost in the Indian foreign-policy discourses in our media, and, unfortunately, the sane voices have largely fallen silent,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The attacks made clear to all the Gulf States that Pakistan was the nursery and sanctuary of extremist violence and that this violence threatened all the countries in the region.'
'The ban on Chinese imports is a suicidal step.' 'This will result not only in economic depression, but in a chaotic situation.'
India has been able to attract 40 global smartphone makers to the country -- creating at least 50,000 jobs. But GST could hurt that, discovers Ayan Pramanik.
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's customary address to the joining sitting of Parliament on the first day of the budget session.
More than 250,000 gram panchayats are yet to be connected through broadband.
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