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 DYNASTYCROOKS Dated 04.12.2020 By Abhishek Banerjee Everything is wrong with the Indian economy. The New York Times certainly thinks so. See this article complete with the picture of manual laborers working the ground with the most primitive tools. In the foreground, a sad looking man carries what appears to be construction material on his head. Look more carefully. I’m sure the New York Times has managed to squeeze in the image of a snake charmer somewhere, along with that of an overcrowded train with passengers hanging from the sides and sitting on the roof. There has been a flood of articles in such years, with outlets such as The Economist, Bloomberg, Washington Post and others falling over each other to describe India’s doom. Look here, some guy called Andy Mukherjee is losing hope in India. And Bloomberg thinks he is important enough that we all need to know about his mood swings. Too late to the party, Andy. Collectively, The Economist, The Washington Post, TIME Magazine an...

 The Hindustan Times Mallika Soni 03.12.2020 The Indian services economy remained on the right path to recovery during November with a further upturn in new work supporting business activity growth and the first rise in employment for nine months, according to the latest IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released on Thursday. Moreover, the overall level of positive sentiment climbed to the highest since February amid predictions that market conditions would normalise once a vaccine for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is rolled out. Meanwhile, rates of inflation for input costs and output charges accelerated, both of which outpacing their respective long-run averages. The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index posted above the critical 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for the second month in a row during November. Despite falling from 54.1 in October to 53.7, the latest reading was still indicative of a solid pace of expan...

 The Hindustan Times Deepali Sharma 02.12.2020 Conditions will improve for Indian corporates next year as economic activity picks up steam post-lockdown and earnings grow on the back of widespread demand revival across sectors, Moody’s Investors Service said on Wednesday. Most companies’ earnings will grow as demand starts to recover following a sharp slump, and financially strong companies will maintain good access to funding, but speculative-grade issuers will face challenges, it said. “Broad-based demand revival and a low base in 2020 will support strong GDP growth of 10.8 per cent in India in fiscal 2022 ending March 2022, following a decline of around 10.6 per cent in fiscal 2021 – the country’s first contraction in four decades,” Moody’s Analyst Sweta Patodia said. In 2021, conditions will improve for Indian corporates as economic activity gathers pace post-lockdown and earnings grow on the back of widespread demand revival across sectors, underpinning Moody’s stable outlook ...

  A mixed set of data points for some high-frequency indicators have pointed to the challenges the economy may face as it looks to quickly regain normalcy from the ravages of the pandemic amid fears over a fresh wave of infections. A key index of manufacturing has dipped to a to 3-month low, while GST collections grew for the third month in a row. Diesel sales fell 7 per cent on an annual basis, while the country's top car maker also reported a dip in sales a possible sign of the festive season fizzling out. The Telegrahp 04.12.2020 Manufacturing activity failed to pick up pace and dropped to a three-month low of 56.3 in November because of slower increases in factory orders, exports and buying levels, prompting firms to cut jobs for the eighth month in a row, a survey showed. The IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell from over a decade high of 58.9 in October to a three-month low of 56.3 in November. GST collections crossed the Rs 1-lakh-crore mark fo...

 NDTV Arvind Gunasekhar 26.11.2020 New Delhi:  The central probe agency CBI has registered a case of corruption and cheating against the directors of a Delhi-based company for defrauding 12 banks to the tune of ₹ 1,200 crore. However, it is feared that the accused may have fled the country. Sources said that the company's directors were not traceable when the CBI conducted searches on Wednesday. According to sources, while the CBI is taking necessary steps to extradite the accused, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has also issued non-bailable warrants against the directors of Amira Pure Foods Pvt Ltd. A creditor had moved the NCLT for insolvency proceedings. The liquidator appointed in this case, Akash Shinghal, told NDTV that the directors of this firm are "not cooperating with the proceedings and their whereabouts are unknown". The accused have been identified as Karan A Channa, his wife Anita Diang, Aparna Puri, Rajesh Arora and Jawahar Kapoor. The consort...

Mint  Gopika Gopakumar 26.11.2020 Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said the Indian economy has seen stronger-than-expected pickup in recovery after the sharp contraction in the first quarter. Das, however, said the downside risks to growth continue due to the recent surge in covid-19 cases. “After witnessing a sharp contraction in GDP by 23.9% in Q1:2020- 21 and a multi-speed normalisation of activity in Q2, the Indian economy has exhibited stronger than expected pick up in momentum of recovery. Even as the growth outlook has improved, downside risks to growth continue due to recent surge in infections in advanced economies and parts of India," the governor said while speaking at a foreign exchange dealers’ conference. Das also warned about the sustainability of demand after festivals and a possible reassessment of market expectations surrounding the vaccine. He also reiterated that the central bank’s monetary policy guidance remains accommodative...

TELEGRAPH ONLINE DATED: November 20, 2020   Malaysia’s flagship budget carrier AirAsia Group Bhd has given its strongest indication to date that it could exit India, saying on Tuesday it was reviewing its investment in a joint venture airline there. The group said in a statement that its operations in India, like those of its now-shuttered Japan business, have been draining cash and adding to the group’s financial stress. “Cost containment and reducing cash burn remain key priorities evident by the recent closure of AirAsia Japan and an ongoing review of our investment in AirAsia India,” it said. AirAsia shut operations in Japan, the smallest of its foreign offshoots, last month. The airline owns 49 per cent of AirAsia India, a joint venture with Tata Sons. According to a media report last month, Tata Sons’ parent is in discussions to buy AirAsia Group’s stake. Group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes told Reuters in September that the group intends to consolidate and strengthe...

 Hindustan Times Dated: November 17, 2020 By: Deepali Sharma According to the report, in the IT services segment, job postings are mainly for sales, spring, interpersonal communication, automation testing and microservices. In an indication of improving hiring activities in metro cities, job postings rose over five per cent in October compared to the previous month, according to a report. The report is based on job postings on job portal SCIKEY. “There have been signs of recovery in the hiring activities in metro cities in India despite the festive season and impact of the coronavirus pandemic. There has been an uptick in hiring in the number of job postings in October by 5.55 per cent compared to September,” it said. On an year-on-year basis, hiring activities were down 17.6 per cent in October. Sectors that have shown a surge in hiring in September and October are e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, packaging, telecom, banking, financial services and insurance (...

Hindustan Times  Updated: Nov 18, 2020, 09:08 IST Alice Yhoshü and Utpal Parashar Several organizations in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district had started the indefinite economic blockade of Nagaland from Tuesday citing alleged illegal encroachments by the neighbouring state. The indefinite economic blockade of Nagaland on NH-39 over alleged encroachment of Assam land has been suspended for Wednesday after authorities from both sides met to discuss the issue on Tuesday and further talks were proposed for Wednesday. Karbi students’ association (KSA) president Bijoy Bey said government officials in Assam conveyed that their Nagaland counterparts have assured to maintain status quo on the disputed area till further resolution and have requested the organisations to call off the blockade. “The deputy commissioner of Karbi Anglong has convened a meeting with us on Wednesday to further discuss the matter, so, until then, we have decided to suspend the economic blockade,” Bey said. However, he...

Hindustan Times Dated: November 18, 2020 By:  Utpal Parashar   OIL maintained that existing rules do not require it to conduct public consultations and added that oil and gas exploration and extraction has not started yet No public consultations were held before granting environmental clearance for the proposed drilling operations inside  Assam’s  Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, Oil India Limited (OIL) said in an affidavit filed in the Gauhati high court on Tuesday. OIL maintained that existing rules do not require it to conduct public consultations and added that oil and gas exploration and extraction has not started yet. It added that no biodiversity study of the proposed site has been done yet. OIL said it is committed to undertaking the study. The affidavit was filed in response to a petition filed in the court seeking a stay on permission granted to OIL in May to drill for hydrocarbons at seven locations inside the Park. In a separate affidavit, the Assam forest d...

Hindustan Times Dated: November 18, 2020 By:  Zia Haq   The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, one of the laws passed in September to free up agricultural trade in the country, makes it compulsory for buyers to pay cultivators “within three days” of a transaction. A maize grower from Maharashtra has become the first person to invoke a provision in one of the three recently enacted farm reform laws , suing two traders for not paying money owed him for sale of produce and forcing the food merchants to clear an outstanding bill of Rs 285,000, according to documents reviewed by HT. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, one of the laws passed in September to free up agricultural trade in the country, makes it compulsory for buyers to pay cultivators “within three days” of a transaction. Farmers in some states, especially Punjab, are protesting the farm laws, fearing that these could erode their barga...

The Indian Express   Written by  Arnab Mitra  | New Delhi |  Updated: November 15, 2020 After facing a lay-off in May, Bengaluru-based software engineer Ridhhi Sharma was unemployed for six months. He tried searching for a new position but could not find a suitable one. However, the festive season turned his luck around, with Riddhi landing a job in  Flipkart  as a digital market strategist. There are concerns though — low payscale and the contractual nature of the job. Riddhi is now earning Rs 10,000 less as against the previous company’s remuneration. “Every year, during Diwali, Independence Day or Christmas, thousands of jobs are generated especially by e-commerce, fintech and retail companies. However, they hardly retain employees, which is a concern, and I am preparing for another job interview,” he said. READ |  Safety, burnout, job stability key concerns of Indian employees during COVID: Report  Likewise, Kolkata’s Gopal Ram recently got a ...