opinion

Politics | How the NRC debate is shaping up in Meghalaya

The demand for NRC, for an inner-line permit and the protest against rail lines are all interrelated issues that need to be understood comprehensively, and boil down to the fear of outsiders changing the culture and customs of the state.

Policy | Dissecting the economic slowdown in India

The Indian economy’s slowdown started within three years of 2008 Great Financial Crisis. Ever since 2012, India’s earnings growth started decelerating arguably because the era of crony capitalism ended in 2010 with the unveiling of the 2G spectrum scam.

NHAI needs to get its maths right to woo investors for its InvIT

It is essential that NHAI leaves enough on the table to give a decent yield to investors

Macro Matters | The US has replaced Emerging Markets as the most favoured region among equity investors

September survey of fund managers finds global recession concerns at highest levels since August 2009

Altico default crisis: SBI chief’s remarks miss the point

HDFC Bank only took a corrective step on its exposure to the non-finance lender. Vigilant and timely action is no ‘selfish’ act

Legal Matters | SEBI failed in prosecuting PwC because its hands were tied

If Indian regulators were rendered toothless in prosecuting Satyam’s auditors, it is only a testament to our legal system’s inadequacy in dealing with violators.

Plastic Ban | A hasty stop to single-use plastic may not help India’s sustainability agenda

A hurriedly ordered ban unaccompanied by adequate preparedness for the fall-out of such a step on a slowing economy could create huge business uncertainties and aggravate an already stressed jobs scenario.

Politics | Why Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments are talking about NRC

Is NRC being used as a smokescreen to deflect public attention for pressing issues such as economic woes?

Is the rise in road offence penalties overdone and counterproductive?

Fines should be made truly steep so that they act as a deterrent but not so steep that they provide scope for harassment and corruption

Sector view | China’s shadow on the metals sector keeps getting longer

The sharp slowdown in China’s industrial sector in May keeps the risk on for metal producers

The big question: Is India really ready for RCEP now?

It is uncertain as to how Indian negotiators will draw the line to tackle an inevitable surge in Chinese imports through RCEP countries

Opinion | Auto sector tax rate cut demand has no moral or financial grounds

If profits of corporates are private, then a cyclical reduction in profitability should not be borne by the public exchequer through lower taxes

Agri finance: Another year, another panel. Will things change?

A new working group suggests a raft of measures to improve agri credit. Sadly, the previous results do not inspire confidence

Prabhat Dairy mocks investors by delisting its share at nearly half the IPO price

Whatever happened to the money that was garnered by the sale of the company’s dairy business?

Politics | Decoding India’s recent rhetoric on PoK

The government has kept up an accusatory line on Pakistan, alleging Pakistan’s retaliation is unfolding. The rhetoric is twin-pronged: One to deter Pakistan, and, two, to lay the ground for a military riposte against Pakistan in PoK if the need arises.

Chart of the Day | The share of non-oil exports and imports in the Indian economy has been shrinking

Sluggish world trade and the twin disruptions of demonetisation and Goods & Services Tax to blame.

Policy | 100 percent FDI in coal doesn’t threaten Coal India’s monopoly. For now.

FDI policy fails to address key regulatory issues such as delay in environmental clearances and land acquisition and lack of availability of coal rakes.

By bailing out stuck affordable housing projects government picks the lowest hanging fruit

Many of the real estate sector’s problems are its own creation

Macro Matters | Key policy changes needed to make exports fly again

All the measures announced are unlikely to make anything more than a marginal impact on the export performance.

Plastic Ban | Single-use plastic has no place on this planet

Banning single-use plastic will hurt a large part of existing investments in machinery and impact jobs in the plastics industry, but future costs of removing all single-use plastics accumulating in the environment will most certainly be higher than the costs of allowing this polluting industry to grow today.

Policy matter | Profit earned during insolvency is new twist in IBC tale

Profits earned when insolvency proceedings are underway should belong to financial creditors is one view but acquirers will object as this upsets their calculations

The cycle of success: Chandrayaan 2 perfectly fits into it

The moon mission has stoked curiosity like no other. More to the point, another loop of success is in the making

The Screen Test | Apple TV+ pricing is a killer, but it needs to figure out localisation fast

The iPhone maker’s Rs 99 subscription plan for Apple TV+ could be a competition killer only if it can feed Indian consumers with local language content

Is Altico default the canary in a coal mine for real estate NBFCS?

Funding is the oxygen for real estate developers. Starved of liquidity, projects will remain stuck and builders will develop cash flow problems. That will lead to asset quality problems for NBFCs which in turn will exacerbate the crisis.