Markets | Don’t pop the champagne corks yet
A slowing economy and the crisis in the NBFC sector are risks.
Politics | A bureaucrat, an accident and a callous Kerala government
A young journalist was killed in an accident by a car allegedly driven by a prominent bureaucrat. Rather than following procedure, the police and hospital officials helped the accused get away — and the Left government has looked the other way.
Celebrities to face consequences for endorsements gone wrong, but a loophole exists
The government is treating celebrity endorsers as experts on products or services they promote and is imposing penalties if consumers are misled
South China Sea | India’s short-sighted stand will damage its credibility in Southeast Asia
India’s silence on developments in the South China Sea is highly unlikely to win it a lasting friendship with China but has the potential to do it some lasting damage.
Chart of the Day | RBI survey finds business expectations in manufacturing at lowest level since demonetization
Business Expectations Index for the July-September quarter is the worst since the fourth quarter of 2016-17
Tata Steel’s caught between Europe and a hard place | Corporate Corridor
Tata Steel’s Europe business bored a hole in its performance, highlighting why selling it is a must so that it can sail ahead on its profitable Indian business
RBI policy: Top rated NBFCs to benefit from easing measures
The Nifty Financial Services Index fell by 0.88 percent on Wednesday
Legal Matters | Is the Consumer Protection Bill as good as it looks?
The new consumer protection law has many laudable provisions, but its success will depend on having adequate judges of good quality.
Three charts from the RBI consumer confidence survey that explain the slowdown
Discretionary spending is the weakest since at least September 2015
Monetary Policy | A 35 bps repo rate cut is an unusual surprise
In the conventional policy design, multiples of 25 bps gives financial markets visibility about near term moves since the pattern is tried and tested. However with this move, multiple possibilities open up for the next rate cut whenever it happens.
Monetary Policy | Unconventional 35 bps of easing provides a dovish tilt
While the rate cut and the awaited improvement in transmission of monetary easing to bank lending rates would boost sentiment, some of the constraints to economic growth may not be removed by lower interest rates alone — this must be supplemented with policy changes and reforms aimed at spurring activity in various sectors.
E-commerce: consumer protection was an article of faith but now it gets teeth
The government has proposed guidelines on consumer protection that will be made applicable to e-commerce companies. Bigger players should have no problem implementing them
There is a limit to how much rate cuts can push growth
Rate cuts and ease of funds flow are at best lubricants, they are not engines of growth. Clearly, it is up to the government to do something to tackle the slowdown now.
Obit | Sushma Swaraj was a stalwart politician and a trailblazer
The fact that Sushma Swaraj achieved so much is a testament to her ability, willpower and endurance.
Politics | The Af-Pak shadow on Centre’s Kashmir gambit
The immediate impact of J&K becoming a Union Territory with a legislature like Delhi or Puducherry will be that the security and intelligence networks should improve, now that these will be directly under the Centre.
Indiabulls real estate business sale unlikely to improve its chances of getting a banking license
The market prices of Lakshmi Vilas Bank and Indiabulls Housing Finance do not suggest a merger is likely to happen anytime soon
Corporate Corridor | ITC's shares are at a discount to its peers but that could change
ITC’s sales growth may have been unimpressive but margins in cigarettes have improved and barring punitive taxes or policy actions it could sustain
Policy | Asset quality review for NBFCs: If not now, then when?
No amount of liquidity - and rate cuts – will help unless the structural problems in the NBFC sector are resolved
Politics | An ominous new chapter begins in Jammu & Kashmir
The government must be seen to be upholding the rights of Kashmiri people and correct the impression that Indians love Kashmir but hate its people, a majority of them Muslims.
Monetary Policy | RBI poised for more easing; bonds volatile with a dovish bias
Signs on the ground don’t point to a meaningful growth recovery. With prices posing no immediate threat, RBI has its task cut out.
Monetary Policy | Rate cuts passé — the RBI must address ‘deflation’ in sentiment too
While a rate cut by itself will not solve sector specific issues, a rate cut along with the right communication and cues on liquidity could go a long way in boosting confidence given the current context.
Policy | National Medical Commission: You win some, you lose some
The new medical body promises to redefine the way healthcare is practised in India. But then, it’s not without its share of scepticism.
Politics | Revoking Article 370 is the Modi government’s biggest surgical strike yet
At a time when sub-nationalism is assuming dangerous proportions not only within the country but in different parts of the world, a state within a state, as is the case with Jammu & Kashmir, cuts at the very concept of nationhood.
J&K and Article 370 | Narendra Modi and Amit Shah keep their promise; what next?
Those who agree with the government’s decision feel that it will usher in development, but those who are opposing this feel that the Modi government has opened a tinderbox.
