The severity of the second wave of COVID-19 infections in India poses a key challenge for the FMCG industry and the spread of the virus to rural areas on a relatively higher scale as compared to the first wave is also expected to weigh on industry growth outlook, according to ITC Ltd. There is heightened uncertainty around the timing and shape of the recovery trajectory of overall economic growth in India due to the virus, the company said in its Annual Report for 2020-21. In terms of consumption, urban-led recovery may be relatively muted compared to the first wave as consumers switch to precautionary savings mode and rising healthcare costs eat into household spending, while rural demand may also be blunted by the large-scale spread of the virus to the hinterland in the second wave.
In the excitement over the allocation of bank licences for the private sector, a new category of licence offered by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last year went almost unnoticed. That was when the RBI consolidated the rules for prepaid payment instruments (PPI), popularly understood as e-wallets or gift cards. In the process, the regulator has fast-forwarded a bottom-up card usage industry in India that is completely different from the world of bank-linked credit and debit cards.
More and more PE players are willing to test the waters now, just in case they become early entrants in a future booming business.
About 150 years ago, in British India, big farmers in the western region of Maharashtra agitated over unfair lending practices and demanded a more fair and inclusive financing structure. People say this is where the seeds of the cooperative movement, now omnipresent in the country, were sown. Today, more than 800,000 cooperative societies thrive in India, with 300 million members, a number close to the population of the United States. Despite a reach this deep--grass roots as they call it--cooperatives do not occupy a lion's share in the Indian economy.
Candidates need to be agile to understand the situation, be receptive to unlearn and learn and adapt accordingly, advises Sanjeev Verma, vice president-HR, STT GDC India.
Stating that recent agriculture reforms have opened new opportunities, the RBI Governor said the farm sector is emerging as a bright spot.
Tata Motor's owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Tuesday reported a 68 per cent increase in retail sales for the first quarter ended June 30 at 124,537 units as compared with the same period of the previous fiscal, reflecting the continuing recovery in demand from the COVID 19 pandemic. The company had retailed 74,067 units in the April-June quarter of 2020-21. However, wholesales, in particular, were lower than demand would have permitted due to semiconductor supply issues affecting the global auto industry, JLR noted in a statement.
'In India, there's currently evidence the Centre has not managed a smooth vaccine rollout.' 'It is now falling back on blaming states, which are facing vaccine shortages,' points out Devangshu Datta.
Confrontations between home boards and players participating in franchise leagues, often forcing them to retire, can leave international cricket a lot poorer.
The Indian financial system's asset quality improved despite the pandemic, but it could be due to special dispensations by the regulator, and banks would likely see increased stress on their books once the schemes expire. According to the annual trend and progress report of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released on Tuesday, the data available for this financial year so far indicate that banks' bad debts have moderated while provision coverage ratios (PCRs), capital buffers as well as profitability indicators have improved relative to pre-pandemic levels.
The Modi government has to embrace the history of Tamil conquests in South East Asia and stop obsessing about Babar/Humayun, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Several institutional investors were ineligible to invest in these companies as they failed to meet the disclosure norms
'India's challenge is status quo ante. China's challenge is a face-saving exit'
'Waiting for a market correction and optimising entry time in the markets will be akin to missing the woods for the trees.'
Brokerage Edelweiss Securities said if the NDA returns to power with a clear majority in line with exit polls, markets would rejoice the policy continuity.
'MFs acted as reckless lenders and not as prudent investors.' 'Clearly, how debt funds are being run is a systemic issue,' warns Debashis Basu.
What we have in the Congress is a useful glue to hold a non-cultural, unified Opposition together. That is the sacrifice the Congress must be willing to live with if showing the BJP the door is what the collective Opposition wants, observes Shyam G Menon.
'You cannot achieve peace if your objective is not to make political accommodations,' notes Dr Nyla Ali Khan, Sheikh Abdullah's grand-daughter, Dr Farooq Abdullah's niece and Omar Abdullah's cousin.
The near term will be challenging, as most will struggle to adapt to the new regime.
'While the march of globalisation is perhaps inevitable, what is certain is that the world is no longer flat as, the emerging pattern of trade is more regional. 'This new trend of 'slowbalisation' raises some questions that challenge conventional wisdom on how businesses should distribute their capacities,' Birla said.
The world is full of family businesses that withered away with the passing of generations, creating much bitterness and ill will. Entire clans that used to be household names have become pale shadows of their once-mighty empires.
"It's a welcome development, but we also feel it was long overdue... It's a recognition of the actions that the government has undertaken like GST, bankruptcy. We also need to keep all these things in perspective," Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian said.
'You write stories about the world you live in.' 'The day I try to write a film with agendas in mind, I will be a fake.'
The Tamil Nadu chief minister may have opened a Pandora's Box on the religion front with the appointment of qualified non-Brahmin temple priests, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'There will be no serious effect on Indian economy because one person, one man, however powerful, however influential, however great, cannot have an impact on an economy as big and complex as India.'
'In the last five years of UP government, the UP police were given a fair environment and the rule of law always remained supreme.' 'In these five years, nobody within BJP dared tell a police officer to act against the rule of law.'
Barring a few, most of the B-schools end up as mere fillers for aspiring students, says Ramesh Kailasam. India needs to have more focused B-schools which are qualitative and practical oriented to churn out students ready to take on the challenge to steer India Inc. and the nation forward.
'We are not yet out of the woods.' 'If India sees the South African or Brazilian type of mutations, our numbers will rapidly rise.'
The defence minister has 20 months to learn the military's ethos, culture and to publicly bat for an organisation that feels increasingly marginalised and underappreciated.
According to the global financial services firm, FY16 would be a notable year for India with gradual improvement in economic growth and declining inflationary pressures amid falling global commodity prices and policy initiatives.
The BJP still does not have a majority in Upper House of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, and this will pose hurdles to the party's legislative reform agenda
For non-banks, the IL&FS crisis was nothing short of India's Lehman moment, which has for a foreseeable future reset the sector on multiple grounds.
'Three external members of the first MPC are respected researchers with excellent academic background, but there is no harm in considering academicians with diverse backgrounds such as finance and labour along with economists for this body,' recommends Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
India's national security strategy needs to be revised periodically since the global and regional geopolitical situation is dynamic, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'"The end" depends on two things.' 'Either you develop a vaccine which is effective or if you have a drug, you can terminate this infection very quickly.' 'Otherwise, you have to depend on herd immunity.' 'I think it should happen earlier. Far earlier, than we can imagine or achieve 'herd immunity'.'
Cricket Australia (CA) is open to parting with its multi-million-dollar television revenue from the high-profile India tours to Australia as part of a collective effort to preserve the financial health of the global game.
A NASA spacecraft has captured a solar filament which appears as a dark line snaked across the lower half of the sun.
"India's middle class, small traders and farmers are the lifelines of its economic growth. By catering to these ambitions #Budget2019 infuses hopes for millions of dreams."
GST compensation law allows for imposition of cess on certain luxury goods like tobacco, high-end cars and aereated drinks to create a corpus for compensating states for any loss of revenue in the first five years
'The much-awaited decision could be a welcome change at a time when the Indian armed forces are crying for self-reliance and the defence industry is looking forward to more indigenisation,' notes Nitin A Gokhale.
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