Why did the political system in the country react to these two decisions of the Modi government in a diametrically opposite manner? asks A K Bhattacharya.
India has demanded resumption of export benefits to certain domestic products under GSP, and greater market access for its products from sectors like agriculture, automobile, auto components and engineering. On the other hand, the US wants greater market access for its farm and manufacturing products, dairy items and medical devices, data localisation, and import duties cut on some ICT products.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
'It is unclear whether clothing or home items qualify as essential items. A lot of professionals are working from home, and they need electronics for their productivity. Does this qualify as essential?'
Ola founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Bhavish Aggarwal will step back from day-to-day operations to focus more on engineering functions, team building, and products, apart from focusing on long-term strategic projects, such as two-wheelers, cars, and innovations in quick commerce and international expansion. "I'll be spending more time with all engineering functions, team building, and on products," said Aggarwal in an internal note, adding, "I'll also be increasing my focus on our longer-term strategic projects, including new two-wheeler products, our car project, innovations in quick commerce, electrifying ride-hailing, our cell research and development (R&D), international expansion, building our Pune technology (tech) centre, and Futurefoundry UK." To drive scale, speed, and quality, Aggarwal said he is expanding Ola Group's chief financial officer (CFO) G R Arun Kumar's role to help him steer 'day-to-day operations' across the group.
The recent 'revelation' by TN fishers freed by Sri Lanka after they had paid up Lankan rupees 50,000 each in fines, that their hair was tonsured in prison and they were forced to remove their garments other than the underpants, and were also made to clean toilets, as if with vengeance, has touched a raw nerve this time, just as another issue or issues had done it ahead of the Jallikattu protests, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
In the coming assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters.
'If Threads doesn't become a distinct identity, and just a text version in the shadows of Instagram, then it may fizzle out.'
Tiger Global-backed Koo, an Indian alternative to Twitter, has laid off 30 per cent of its workforce of 260 employees in the last year as the budding firm, like many other start-ups in the country, battles global headwinds. "It's important for businesses of all sizes to adopt efficient and conservative approaches to see this period through. "In line with this, we have acted on some role redundancies by letting go of 30 per cent of our workforce over the course of the year," said a Koo spokesperson.
It all started with Flipkart and Amazon trying to outdo each other - after Flipkart announced $1-billion fund-raising in July.
The threat may be a decade away, but it has brick-and-mortar sellers rethinking their strategies and banking on the govt to regulate online companies.
The Commerce and Industry Ministry has circulated a draft Cabinet note for inter-ministerial consultations.
Three tourists from Bangladesh were charred to death in a major blaze in a houseboat on the famous Dal Lake on Saturday, officials in Srinagar said.
Quick estimates available with the commerce ministry show that exports dipped 12 per cent in November, almost the same as October.
For the startup ecosystem in India, the scorecard so far has been a mixed bag, observes Akhil Gupta.
Morgan Stanley writing down its investment in the e-commerce leader by 27 per cent does not augur well for the sector.
'Given the inherent volatility, investors should take at least a three to five-year view.'
India's internet subscriber base is 100-150 million, depending on whose estimates you take, and is growing at 20-30% a year.
Besides growing tech and digital enhancements, the firms are ramping up the hiring of more delivery partners and reinforcing existing Covid protocols.
In the April-June quarter (Q1) of 2023-24 (FY24), growth in sales of FSN E-Commerce Ventures (the parent company of Nykaa) decelerated to 24 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), and 9 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q), compared with 34 per cent in the previous quarter, due to a decline in the beauty & personal care (BPC) and fashion division's gross merchandise value (GMV). But Nykaa claimed it gained market share in both divisions. The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) margin of 5.2 per cent expanded 120 basis points (bps) from a year earlier.
While political experts claim that the Modi Magic is missing in the 2024 general election, the common people in the street -- at least those in the crowd on Thursday -- vow that they will vote for Modi and the candidate who contests the election doesn't matter much.
'We need a candidate who will do our work and fight with the authorities; someone we can hold accountable.' 'Piyush Goyal is not that candidate.'
There has been a 45 per cent growth in 'active internet users' in rural India since 2019, according a study by Nielsen, a global company for audience measurement, data and analytics. The Bharat 2.0 Internet report said that female active internet users grew by 61 per cent since 2019. The report said that India has 646 million active Internet users aged 2 years and above as of December 2021. Rural India has 352 million internet users--almost 20 per cent higher than urban.
IPO-bound mobility platform Ola, said it has successfully raised $500 million via a Term Loan B (TLB) from marquee international institutional investors. This term loan has no impact on the valuation of Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola. The Bengaluru-based firm recently raised $139 million. This is part of a $1 billion funding round for which the company is in talks with investors, increasing its valuation to about $7.5 billion, according to the sources.
Commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal is set to attend a two-day meeting from October 23 at the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters in Geneva, that would focus on finding solutions and giving the 'necessary political push' for at least some crucial global trade issues. Next week's meeting comes ahead of the WTO's 13th ministerial conference (MC13), scheduled in Abu Dhabi in February 2024. It will see participation of senior government officials from all WTO member nations.
Whether the age-old cry of kendrer banchana will be able to drown out pangs of Sandeshkhali, the EVM will tell.
Food delivery aggregator Swiggy's losses widened 2.24 times to Rs 3,628.9 crore during last financial year, as its expenses surged 227 per cent in a year. This is even as the decacorn's revenue jumped more than twofold to Rs 5,704.9 crore in FY22, according to details from company research platform Tofler. While the company's losses surged from a base of Rs 1,616.9 crore in FY21, its total expense in FY22 touched Rs 9,748.7 crore, from Rs 4,292.8 crore a year ago.
This is the Mukesh Ambani-led company's second entry into the dairy segment and it will directly compete with Amul and Mother Dairy.
'Just the amount of work which is there just to become more and more successful in banking. For this to happen you need to have leaders who understand technology.'
Can Bhavish Aggarwal upend the electric two-wheeler market, which is now overwhelmingly in favour of scooters?
The recent equity market weakness has sobered up investor mood, but the coming festive season is keeping analysts upbeat on stocks related to the consumption basket. Among the lot, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, and consumer electronics segments are expected to do well over the next few months, and investors should thus selectively take bets in these pockets, analysts suggest. "We expect good volume growth for the FMCG sector during the festive season with some improvement in rural demand.
"No, she will not make me the PM," was Dr Pranab Mukherjee's cryptic response in a reference to Sonia Gandhi when he was asked by his daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee about his chances of becoming the prime minister in 2004.
In the past three weeks, early-stage venture capital firm Matrix Partners has invested in three start-ups.
India has substantially increased its crude oil imports from the US, with the country's share in India's crude basket hitting a record 14.3 per cent in December, commerce ministry data showed.
There is ample fuel in the computer revolution to do many useful things.
In a recent interview, Narendra Modi, set to take charge as prime minister in a few days, had said his government wouldn't roll back any policy in the sector.
'Later, I asked Hrithik how he could have remained so calm in the circumstances. He told me simply, "What could have happened? At the most, they would have killed me".'
Nearly 100 public-company CEOs in the US are 40 or younger. Here they share war stories and tips on how to get to their position.
'For our traditional membership base, it would be an access to disruptive ideas,' FICCI President Subhrakant Panda tells Asit Mishra/Business Standard.
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