Six months after the lockdown was imposed, two dozen migrant workers were interviewed across five villages of Prayagraj. As the economy opens up, most of them are either hunting for a job or desperately waiting for a phone call from their previous employers. But the bruises of the lockdown are still fresh in their minds. Somesh Jha reports.
Of the three major Budget announcements related to the banking sector, privatisation of PSBs is the most audacious, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
In the fifth of a six-part series, Business Standard visits Coimbatore, often referred to as the Manchester of South India for its promising textile industry, to assess the impact of the note ban.
They are small town boys who went on to make it big in global financial powerhouses.
Here's the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to a joint session of the United States Congress, delivered on Thursday.
Away from the distraction of its new high-profile politics, Wayanad's worries seemed very down to earth, discovers Shyam G Menon.
A key hindrance to a faster turnaround of these banks is the slow progress in the resolution of legacy bad loans and the need to build up provisions against those assets.
Bank credit growth declined to 8.5 per cent in January from 13.5 per cent in the year-ago period.
/We will stay away from corporate loans,' C S Ghosh, managing director and chief executive officer of Bandhan Bank, tells Namrata Acharya.
Announcing a slew of measures for the sector, he said GST-registered micro, small and medium enterprises will be sanctioned a loan of Rs 1 crore in just 59 minutes through a new portal.
PM extended some old schemes and finally said yes to one that was legally mandated for past 2 years.
'The assumed linear correlation between forced lower yields, higher bank borrowing from the RBI, higher lending, and higher growth involves leaps of faith, each a step on the quicksand of false beliefs,' warns Debashis Basu.
The strike call is over privatisation, mergers, and also due to write-off of corporate NPAs, criminalisation of willful default
The World Bank has approved a $120 million loan to support the development of India's small and medium enterprises sector.
The 74-year-old real estate mogul-turned politician, who radically changed politics in the corridors of power in Washington, DC over the past four tumultuous years, was impeached for a second time on the charges of 'incitement of insurrection' for the violent storming of the United States Capitol by his supporters just days before the end of his four-year term.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed how businesses look at payments. Earlier, fintech companies said when they were talking to merchants, they were not interested in digitisation.
Investors need to evaluate how they stack up against other high credit quality fixed-income options before putting money in them.
'And because she was very close to Indira Gandhi, she was close to me.' 'Sonia is a wonderful person'
the money involved is more than Rs 2,000 crore across Andhra Pradesh
'I have tried to make it easier for the small scale entrepreneur to do business and cut through the red tape.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said his government is using all channels including diplomatic to bring back high-profile economic offenders, leaving them with no option but to return to the country. Speaking at a symposium on credit flow and economic growth, he asked banks to support wealth and job creators with proactive lending while promising to stand by any loans given in right earnest. "In our attempt to bring back fugitive (economic offenders), we relied on policies and law and also used diplomatic channels.
Practising Indira Gandhi's brand of socialism today will not just be anachronistic but also economically harmful.
'Where will industry have funds when they open up?'
It has been a decade since Shyam Srinivasan took over as managing director and chief executive officer at Federal Bank. He wants to ramp up the bank's unsecured lending going ahead even as it homes into the space vacated by competition. Reappointed for a fresh three-year term as the bank's helmsman, he spoke to Hamsini Karthik on the plot ahead.
Corporate ministry documents show that the Siva's firm kept taking loans from public sector banks like State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank which gradually turned to bad loans.
ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 6 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, L&T, UltraTech Cement, Titan, SBI and NTPC. NSE Nifty settled 32.10 points up at 14,707.80.
Besides urging the Centre for extension of loan moratorium, the hotel and travel industries have also demanded deferment of GST and advance tax payments and waiver of fees for all forthcoming licences and permits.
Instead of relying on technology that is not in their control, businesses should stop using SMS based OTPs and start using other software-based or hardware-based token authentication, which are in their control, says Venkata Satish Guttula.
Morgan Stanley removed banking stocks from its model portfolio when it slashed its weighting on the sector by 500 basis points. Several foreign brokerages, such as UBS, JP Morgan, and Credit Suisse, of late, have also become less optimistic about banking stocks.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the government is planning to extend the suspension of fresh insolvency proceedings for another three months, a move which will provide major relief to corporate borrowers hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Addressing the Bangalore Chamber Of Industry And Commerce (BCIC), she said the government has taken several measures, including deferment of tax payment date, to help businesses and people.
'In their over-enthusiasm to clean up the system, both the banks and the regulator should not forget that the key to the insolvency law is revival of companies -- recovery of bank dues is an offshoot of that,' points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'Make cash available now, don't put people into suffering.' 'You should not come to a situation where the operation was successful and the patient is dying.' 'What did not happen in India for several years, you cannot do in 50 days.' 'This is agony and pain.'
The patience, discipline, and resolve displayed by 125 crore Indians, will play a critical role in shaping the future of the nation for years to come, the PM said.
Omkeshwar Singh, head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
The finance ministry on Wednesday reimposed expenditure curbs on ministries and government departments for July-September quarter. There will be no spending restrictions on the ministries of health, rural development, agriculture, MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) and railways as part of a two-pronged strategy. "The existing guidelines for expenditure control have been reviewed. "Keeping in view the evolving situation arising out of Covid-19 and anticipated cash position of the government, it is felt essential to regulate Quarterly Expenditure Plan (QEP)/Monthly Expenditure Plan (MEP) of specific ministries/departments for July-September, 2021," the Department of Economic Affairs in the finance ministry said in a notification.
I am not sure if Modi can ever act as a chowkidar, even if he wants to. But he can surely act as a thanedar, by ensuring a fast resolution of corruption cases once they come to light. Exemplary action is easier and will burnish his anti-corruption image, argues Debashis Basu.
There's no place like home, but even for the affluent buying one in India is difficult. On top of that, the coronavirus pandemic-now in its eighteenth month-has made life uncertain. A hopeful thing is buying a house looks alluring as loan interest rates fall below 7 per cent, their multi-decadal lows. The slow decline in GDP growth after demonetisation, followed by the economic shock caused by Covid-19 waves, has hurt us unevenly.
'The next fiscal year will be a good one.'
There were nearly 4,000 cabin crew with Jet when the airline was grounded; every fifth remains without a job to date. One cabin crew member with 10 years of experience has been forced to take up a teaching job; some have branched out into small businesses. Aviation jobs were scarce even before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived on Indian shores in early 2020. The situation has been exacerbated since.
Those just starting their careers should avoid adding to their liabilities, especially if they already have an education loan. They should think hard before taking a car or home loan.
