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The Economics Times September 19, 2019 Sagar Malviya  Sanam Mirchandani India’s consumer goods industry could post its slowest pace of revenue growth in a decade and a half this financial year, Credit Suisse said, even as category leaders and Godrej Consumer sounded more optimistic about  sales revival in the second half of FY20. Liquidity constraints and lower farm incomes will likely affect revenues at India’s leading consumer companies, which Credit Suisse said had harnessed savings from the GST  rollout and fuel costs to expand operating margins and earnings over the past few years. “Despite the slowdown over FY16-19, FMCG companies grew their earnings faster by expanding margins from levers like the fall in crude prices and GST savings,” Credit Suisse said in a report on the consumer sector. “We expect 2Q and 3Q FY20 to see a further slowdown in revenue growth of our coverage universe to about 5%. This will make FY20 the slowest year of growth for FMCG...

The Hindu September 19, 2019 Puja Mehta The government has failed to heed recommendations made by economists and bureaucrats on turnaround measures One of the visitors to pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after his re-election this summer was a former Secretary to the Government of India holding a high-profile constitutional office. During the conversation, the Prime Minister asked: “Arthvyavastha ka kya karna chahiye? (What should be done about the economy?)” The former bureaucrat , who had studied economics at college, replied: “All of that listed in the presentation I made to you in 2015,” referring to the marathon brainstorming sessions the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had held nearly four years ago to set the policy agenda for Mr. Modi’s first term. It was a sharp remark to make. For it implied that Mr. Modi’s government had made little progress on translating agenda into action. Ending the paralysis Back then, the economy was still in recovery ph...

The Observer Research Foundation September 19, 2019 Vikram Sood India - Pakistan relations have been marked by four wars initiated by them, unending Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, brief spells of fake cordiality and long periods of high decibel animosity. They are in the last mentioned state these days, and likely to remain there for some time. One might say that the immediate provocation for Pakistan has been the Indian decision to revoke Articles 370 and 35A. This is something the BJP had mentioned in its election manifesto, and should not have surprised Pakistan. The decision on the revocation of the articles was not a sudden ‘inspired’ stroke; it would have been worked out months in advance, including the worst-case scenarios. This would have included political and media reactions at home and abroad, and that of the diaspora. The security dimension and the need for restraining some individuals and institutions also would have been taken into account. Perhaps only the exact ti...

The Hindu Business Line September 19, 2019 The government may table bills that deal with spurious seeds and pesticides management in the coming session of Parliament, Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, has said. “We are pursuing the Bills — one on pesticides management and on seeds. I am hopeful that these would be finalised in the next session (of Parliament),” Rupala said, while addressing a conference organised by Assocham here on Thursday. The government is seriously pursuing these issues as in the absence of proper policies and regulations, the country has to face the menace of spurious seeds and pesticides. In fact, India has a great potential to emerge as a major exporter of seeds, he said. Referring to the new global opportunities in the food and agriculture sector, Rupala further said the demand for organic food is witnessing an exponential increase. “In overseas restaurants, every table is not only segrega...

Vice September 17, 2019 Joseph Cox In just a few taps and clicks, the tool showed where a car had been seen throughout the U.S. A private investigator source had access to a powerful system used by their industry, repossession agents, and insurance companies. Armed with just a car's plate number, the tool—fed by a network of private cameras spread across the country—provides users a list of all the times that car has been spotted. I gave the private investigator, who offered to demonstrate the capability, a plate of someone who consented to be tracked. It was a match. The results popped up: dozens of sightings, spanning years. The system could see photos of the car parked outside the owner's house; the car in another state as its driver went to visit family; and the car parked in other spots in the owner's city. Each was tagged with the time and GPS coordinates of the car. Some showed the car's location as recently as a few weeks before. In additio...