'Das is friendly, but he finally does what he does. The quality of engagement is very good.'
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's four-year-old telecom venture Reliance Jio has been ranked the fifth strongest brand globally behind the likes of Ferrari and Coca-Cola. The Brand Finance's Global 500 ranking of the strongest brands globally, which determined the relative strength of brands, is topped by WeChat, according to its annual report on most valuable and strongest global brands.
According to the WB datat, February witnessed a 40 per cent rise in coal prices and 24 per cent in rice. To add to that fuel, food, fibre, and metals saw double-digit jump in global prices. Rice went up 24 per cent due to limited export supplies, deteriorating prospects for the next crop, and the impact of higher wheat prices. Lead jumped 18 per cent on falling stocks, strong battery demand in China, and weather-related supply reductions, also in China.
India needs to recognise and address challenges posed by its dependence on China for critical minerals and examine the implications of phasing down coal on bank balance sheets as it accelerates its green transition, the government's Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament on Monday said. As part of its national plan to contribute to meeting the global goal of limiting the average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, India has committed to reducing emissions by 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, achieving 50 per cent cumulative electric installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources, and creating a carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 gigatons of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover.
Households are likely to remain the primary net lenders to the economy in the coming decades.
'India's fundamentals are a lot better (than those of other emerging market economies).' 'India will suffer (witness a fall in its stock market) what I call the second order effect.' 'And the second order will happen when these funds (belonging to macro and hedge fund investors and which have leveraged Japanese yen-carry trades), because they lose money elsewhere as lot of their positions were financed by borrowing Japanese yen, will have to book profits in investment destinations where they are making money, including in markets like India.' 'They (these investors) will have to effectively sell in countries like India and which is the consequence (the crash in equity markets) that Indian markets might see.'
Citing various macroeconomic parameters that are doing pretty well, India's G20 Sherpa and former CEO of Niti Aayog Amitabh Kant projected that the country is all set to overtake Japan as 4th largest economy in the world by 2025. The size of India's GDP is currently ranked 5th, after the US, China, Germany, and Japan. It overtook the UK in 2022.
Retail investors have become a force to reckon with in the last 10 years with their ownership of Indian equities rising 800 basis points, or 8 per cent, to 23.4 per cent during this period, suggests a recent note from Morgan Stanley. This number, Morgan Stanley said, is set to rise in the next few years as Indian households are still underinvested in equities. India's demographics, policy framework, investor education and modest positive real rates, it said, will fuel the 'equity cult' in India.
From the Sensex basket, Kotak Mahindra Bank jumped 5 per cent after the company reported a 25 per cent growth in its March quarter net profit at Rs 5,302 crore, limited by a drop in the core income due to narrow interest margins. Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra and IndusInd Bank were among the other major gainers. Titan tanked 7 per cent after its March quarter earnings failed to cheer investors.
Praggnanandhaa, who has reached the summit clash featuring legendary five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen, had none other than the iconic Gary Kasparov, acknowledging the Indian GM's mother's role
Against the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) projection of 7.1 per cent, India's first quarter (Q1) 2024-25 (FY25) gross domestic product (GDP) growth came in at 6.7 per cent. This is in line with market expectations and significantly lower than the 7.8 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter (Q4) 2023-24 (FY24) and 8.2 per cent in Q1FY24. The quarter witnessed decreased government consumption and investment spending due to the parliamentary election.
India will have the presidency of the BRICS' $100 billion New Development Bank for six years with headquarters in China that will become operational in about two years, a major step for reshaping the international financial system dominated by the West.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked G20 nations to freeze and repatriate unaccounted money hoarded abroad.
The star power was high at the third annual Global Citizen Festival on Central Park's Great Lawn on Saturday with headliners Jay Z and No Doubt and host Hugh Jackman. But even they were eclipsed by some of the world's most powerful leaders, including India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Queen Silvia of Sweden.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is India's most-valuable brand in 2022 replacing HDFC Bank, which held the number one spot since 2014, according to Kantar BrandZ report on India's most-valuable brands. TCS was able to grab the top slot due to rising global demand for automation and digital transformation, following the pandemic. Indian brands have bounced back from the pandemic to increase their brand value by 35 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) since 2020.
India will enter the Asia Cup as a seven-time champions, most by any team, but adding an eighth title might just not feature on top of their bucket list.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a fresh push for reforms in global institutions, including the United Nations, asserting that the world's 'new realities' should be reflected in 'new global structure' as it is nature's law that those who don't change with times lose their relevance.
'India has formed tremendous resilience and still a strong growth.'
The employment situation remains dire. Whatever can be done to promote greater low-skill employment should be pursued aggressively, advises former chief economic adviser Shankar Acharya.
The economy may grow by around 7 per cent this financial year as estimated by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), say economists with various organisations. The first advance estimates for 2023-24 will be released on Friday by the National Statistical Organisation (NSO), an exercise done for calculating ratios such as the fiscal deficit. The interim Budget will be presented on February 1.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said despite the latest headwinds arising from the Jackson Hole summit leading to extreme volatility, our banking system and financial markets are strong enough to withstand such pressures. Taking the markets by surprise, US Fed chair Jerome Powell had told the annual Jackson Hole summit of central bankers and economists last week that he would have to keep raising federal fund rates to tame inflation, which remains the biggest challenge to the world's largest economy. He also warned of the pains that such monetary policy actions would create on growth and jobs.
'To the believers of crypto regulations, I have only one question to ask, how will you regulate it?'
The UNICEF is the world's largest single vaccine buyer, procuring more than 2 billion doses of various vaccines annually for routine immunisation and outbreak response on behalf of nearly 100 countries.
Capital markets are becoming more prominent in India's growth story, with an expanding share in capital formation and investment landscape on the back of technology, innovation and digitisation, according to the Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament on Monday. Further, Indian markets are resilient to global geo-political and economic shocks, it added. "Despite heightened geo-political risks, rising interest rates and volatile commodity prices, Indian capital markets have been one of the best performing among emerging markets in FY24," the Economic Survey said.
Funds for capital recast of rural credit societies
Impressive advances in the world's most populous countries, India and China, have been at the forefront of the reduction in global poverty, a World Bank panel has said.
Temperatures in 17 locations breached 48 degrees Celsius on Monday, with the relentless heat affecting health and livelihoods across large parts of northwestern and central India.
IndusInd Bank, ITC, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries are also among top gainers. SE Nifty jumped 52.35 points to finish at 11,322.50.
'Suddenly we had a new comprehension of affairs, which reminded that the luxury of politics floated atop a foundation by economics.' 'Along with this, finance ministers became crucial in molding the perception and reputation of Union Cabinets.' 'Governments couldn't afford a wrong person in that portfolio,' asserts Shyam G Menon.
A mentor can only help as much because it is the players who will have to go out there and perform the "actual task", the legendary Sunil Gavaskar said on the appointment of Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the Indian team mentor for the T20 World Cup.
In a significant development, India is believed to have placed a funding request of around $55 million in its first call with the Pandemic Fund of the World Bank, sources said. The fund has been set up to finance critical investments in a bid to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacities at national, regional, and global levels, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. It was created in the aftermath of the Covid-19 global pandemic.
Now, 83 per cent males and 77 per cent females have formal bank accounts but they are hardly using them
Axis Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, dropping around 5 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, SBI, L&T, IndusInd Bank, Infosys and NTPC. On the other hand, HDFC Bank, HUL, Kotak Bank and Bharti Airtel were among the gainers.
India's role as a leader of the global south may require it to give up its ambition to serve as a bridge between the warring halves of the international community, points out Mihir S Sharma.
Let's take a look at banks that have most assets in the world.
Nearly a third of an average Indian citizen's consumption budget is spent on food.
India's economy continues to be robust, but downside risks such as rising crude oil prices, adverse weather conditions, and the global banking crisis outweigh the upside potential in gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the current financial year (FY24), the finance ministry said on Tuesday in its Monthly Economic Review for March. "We reiterate that downside risks to our official forecast of 6.5 per cent for real GDP growth in FY24 dominate upside risks," the review said. "Opec's surprise production cut has seen oil prices rise in April, off their lows of low-seventies per barrel in March.
India witnessed a 12 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in total household wealth last year, at $14,225 billion, according to the Global Wealth Report 2022 by Credit Suisse. The report also forecasts the number of millionaires in the country to more than double from 796,000 in 2021 to 1.6 million in 2026. According to the report, which is based on data for the wealth holdings of 5.3 billion adults across nearly 200 countries, global household wealth rose 9.8 per cent in 2021 to $463.6 trillion, driven by widespread gains in share prices and a favourable environment created by central bank policies in 2020 to lower interest rates but at the cost of inflationary pressure.
'People trust India and Indians a lot more than they trust China and the Chinese.'
'While Indian markets are indeed not inexpensive, the valuations of largecap stocks are still a considerable distance from being overstretched.'
