opinion

Davos participants should walk the talk

The World Economic Forum will throw up a lot of good ideas, but they have to be followed through.

The secrets of the best small cap companies

German management guru Hermann Simon’s path-breaking work lists out the traits and offers interesting lessons to remain ahead of the curve

Stocks want to fly higher. Budget 2020 can just lend a hand

A long-standing demand from the stakeholders is either a reduction or elimination of STT (Securities Transaction Tax) and CTT (Commodities Transaction Tax)

Budget 2020 Chart Point | Defining the corporate tax cut impact

The corporate tax cuts’ effect on estimated collections will reflect in budget numbers for FY20 and FY21

Trade | How real is the truce in the US-China trade war?

The US-China deal would, at least temporarily, arrest further decline of the global trade scenario and may even stop multiplication of negativity in a recessionary setting.

Budget 2020: What next after the corporate tax cut?

The Centre must consider bringing down personal taxes for individuals as well as boosting spending in key sectors

Politics | The Dhingra report on 1984 riots and its effect on Delhi elections

The BJP’s strategy is likely to be to attack the AAP for joining hands with the Congress on several issues and bring back the taint of anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984 to tarnish the AAP by association.

A giant among Lilliputs

Bandhan Bank a hyper-aggressive player in microfinance space

Data show the credit crunch is at the root of the current slowdown

The flow of financial resources to the commercial sector, as a percentage of Gross Value Added, has fallen sharply

Tailwinds in sight for aviation

The worst seems over for the aviation sector

Politics | The shifting political sands of Bihar

Following Nitish Kumar’s remarks against the NRC and the CAA, the BJP has started its efforts to rein in the JDU to avert a Shiv Sena-type disaster in Bihar.

Vedanta getting access to Nalco’s alumina is a shot in its arm | Corporate Corridor

The SC order allows Vedanta to bid for Nalco’s export orders, potentially lowering its alumina procurement cost

Politics | Has vote-bank politics come to haunt Yediyurappa?

While the Lingayats form a predominant force behind Yediyurappa, it has to be seen if he will expand his Cabinet to meet their demands.

Politics | Students spearheading protests — then and now

The agitations during and after the Emergency were also led by students across campuses but no one was ever slapped with sedition charges nor called anti-nationals. These disagreements remained at the debate and discussion level, and there was no intimidation nor were there physical attacks.

Govt. asking higher dividend from oil PSUs a heaven-sent opportunity for yield seekers

To meet the shortfall in its revenue target the government has asked its favourite milch cows to deliver some more

Legal Matters | Why anti-Centre petitions in SC won’t hold water

The petitions by the governments of Chhattisgarh and Kerala in the Supreme Court against the central government may serve the purpose as a means of political posturing, but the challenge to the competence of Parliament to frame laws does not seem to be destined to achieve any success.

Jeff Bezos, Make in India and selling dreams to millions of Indian small businesses

More than 50,000 Indian SMBs exports Made-in-India products through Amazon’s Global Selling Programme.

The implications of the US-China Phase One deal | Macro Matters

Look for signs that China is honouring its trade commitments to know if the phase one truce will be lasting

What the World Bank has to say about low Indian productivity

Labour productivity in India is 27 percent of the average in emerging economies, which in turn is less than one-fifth of the average in developed economies

Fiscal deficit — To breach or not to breach

Opinion is divided on how the government should nurse the economy back to health

Government under fiscal pressure: WMA trend suggests so

The frequency with which RBI is advancing loans to the Centre is a reminder that public finances need to be set right at the earliest

Policy | How to facilitate public private partnerships in infrastructure sector

While the recently announced National Infrastructure Pipeline is a step in the right direction, there are a few other areas which need to be addressed on a priority basis given the global experiences in PPPs.

Why monetary policy in India has been ineffective

Average bank lending rates have remained more or less the same despite RBI rate cuts

Chart of the Day | The close correlation between central bank balance sheet expansion and equity market performance

The chart shows the markets took off when the central banks started expanding their assets through the Quantitative Easing (QE) programmes.