Business Standard - December 28, 2024

In this issue

December 28, 2024

Rural, urban food spending rises amid inflation pressure

HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE SURVEY (AUGUST 2023-JULY 2024)

2 mins

The shift fuelling country's growth engine

India aims to be developed by 2047 and net-zero by 2070, requiring a transformative energy transition to achieve these goals

7 mins

₹ weakens below 85.8 intraday, RBI does rescue act

Still settles below 85.5 amid strong dollar demand

2 mins

Farewell, Dr Singh: State funeral today

Commoners from all walks of life as well as the country's top political leaders queued up to pay their last respects to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his 3, Motilal Nehru Marg residence in New Delhi on a cold rainy Friday.

4 mins

Air India to strengthen practices in 2025, become profitable: CEO

If 2024 was the year of consolidation, when Air India, Vistara, Air India Express and AirAsia (India) came under one roof, 2025 will be the year when the Tata-owned airline will strengthen its practices and processes to become consistent, efficient in service, and ultimately profitable in its operations, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Managing Director (MD) Campbell Wilson told employees in a message sent on Friday.

2 mins

Adani Ports orders 8 tugs from Cochin Shipyard for ₹450 crore

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) on Friday announced it has placed an order for eight harbour tugs, to be constructed by Cochin Shipyard in a deal worth ₹450 crore.

1 min

Visionary auto tycoon who made winning bet on India

Osamu Suzuki, an ingenious pennypincher who led Japan's Suzuki Motor for more than four decades and played a key role in turning India into a flourishing auto market, has died aged 94.

2 mins

DGCA suspends two Akasa Air executives

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday suspended two senior Akasa Air executives—Director of Training Niraj Bhatia and Director of Flight Operations Floyd Gracious—for six months over pilot training lapses, Business Standard has learnt.

1 min

UltraTech to pick up 8.7% in Star Cement

UltraTech Cement said on Friday it will invest ₹851 crore to pick an 8.6 per cent stake in the Meghalaya-based Star Cement, which has 7.7 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) capacity in East India.

1 min

JSW Energy inks pact to buy O2 Power unit for ₹12,468 cr

This will be largest acquisition by Sajjan Jindal-promoted firm

2 mins

Forex kitty falls $8.4 bn in a week

Down by $61 billion since touching all-time high in September-end

1 min

Govt plans to borrow ₹3.9 tn via T-bills in Q4

The government plans to borrow ₹3.9 trillion through the issuance of treasury bills (T-bills) in the last quarter of the current financial year.

1 min

Credit, deposit growth up at 11.5%

Credit growth gained pace in the fortnight ending December 13 over the previous fortnight, latest data by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.

1 min

CAD moderates marginally to 1.2% of GDP in July-Sep qtr

India's current account deficit (CAD) marginally narrowed to $11.2 billion, or 1.2 per cent of GDP, during the July-September quarter of financial year 2025 (Q2FY25) from $11.3 billion, or 1.3 per cent of GDP, a year ago, amid a rise in service exports.

1 min

RBI allows interoperability of PPIs using third-party apps

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday allowed interoperability of prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions through third-party application providers (TPAPs).

2 mins

S Korea Impeaches 2 Leaders in 2 Weeks as Crisis Deepens

Lawmakers voted 192-0 in favor of acting Prez and Prime Minister Han's impeachment

2 mins

Richard Parsons, Who Led Time Warner, Citigroup, Dies at 76

Richard D. Parsons, whose humane approach to business made him a serial troubleshooter at distressed companies such as Time Warner, CBS, and Citigroup and a sought-after adviser at the highest echelons of American industry, died on Thursday at his Manhattan home. He was 76.

1 min

India Loses Manmohan, Pakistan Mourns ‘Mohna’

“The entire village is in mourning. We feel that someone from our family has died today,” Altaf Hussain told PTI as a group of local residents held a meeting to condole the death of village boy Manmohan who became prime minister next door.

1 min

Passengers say they heard a loud bang

Two passengers on the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan told Reuters that they heard at least one loud bang as it approached its original destination of Grozny in southern Russia.

1 min

German Prez calls for snap polls in Feb, dissolves Parl

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (pictured) on Friday dissolved Germany's lower house of parliament to pave the way for snap elections on February 23 following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-way coalition.

1 min

1 million nonimmigrant visas issued to Indians in Jan-Nov

The US mission in India on Friday said it issued more than one million nonimmigrant visas for the second year in a row, including a record number of visitor visas, underscoring the huge demand of Indians for travel to the US.

1 min

Future fast-forwarded

Eye Culture

3 mins

Trump gloom or green shoots? Europe's year ahead

After Covid-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, is Europe about to get its next existential shock in the shape of Donald Trump? From trade to defense to tech, the combination of mercantilism and MAGA is going to hurt—but hopefully also jolt Europeans out of typical complacency.

3 mins

The riddle of leadership

There are two contrasting views about great leadership. Business writing has largely adopted the \"Great Man Theory\", perhaps inspired by Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle, who wrote: \"The history of the world is but the biography of great men.\"

3 mins

Dr Singh's other reform

Manmohan Singh's success lay in making a decisive and historic shift towards the West. It was also audacious, in my book even more so than the 1991 reform, given how little support it had within the Congress and the UPA

5 mins

India's uncharismatic reformer

Charisma. The late Manmohan Singh had many gifts, but charisma was not one of them. That lack of charisma was actually foundational to his political career and his remarkable achievements.

3 mins

Manmohan Singh: A personal memoir

I first met Manmohan Singh in 1981. As a reporter for Business Standard in Delhi, I had accompanied my bureau chief to meet the member-secretary of the Planning Commission.

5 mins

'Eminent economist, great human being'

We have lost a very distinguished leader, an eminent economist and a great human being with the passing away of Dr Manmohan Singh.

1 min

Peerless policymaker who shaped equity markets

Seeds for robust equity markets were sown during his tenure as FM in Narasimha Rao government. Economic growth gathered momentum in Singh's first term as PM

4 mins

Defining reforms under Singh as finance minister, Prime Minister

India pledges gold with the Bank of England and UBS to increase foreign currency reserves in the face of an imminent external payments crisis

2 mins

A legacy of rights-based laws

From MGNREGA to RTI, Manmohan Singh's policies transformed India's social welfare landscape

3 mins

A maker of modern India

Dr Manmohan Singh was that rarity of rarities, a good man in politics. He was never a politician, for he brought to politics a decency and integrity that is unmatched.

4 mins

A gentle but effective leader

Dr Manmohan Singh passed away on December 26, and his loss has inspired a wide range of tributes for a political leader distinguished by his integrity, humility, deep understanding of the economy, and achievements as both finance minister and long-standing Prime Minister.

3 mins

Understated politician who could pull off impossible tasks

After he ceased being finance minister in 1996, friends advised Manmohan Singh to not get lost in the value-free world of Congress politics, and to nurse his support base among those who admired him for spearheading economic reforms.

4 mins

Goodwill earned in 1st stint, but slips in the 2nd

Economic data shows history will be kinder to him for his first term rather than second

2 mins

NON - EPFO PMS Assets Top ₹10 Trillion

Listed equity PMS assets have trebled since FY19, helped by a pandemic-era bull market

2 mins

JSW Infrastructure anchored for robust growth on strong balance sheet

JSW Infrastructure (JSWIL), the second-largest private port operator, is on an expansion drive. It plans to add capacity from the existing 170mnt (million tonnes) to reach 400mnt.

2 mins

ETF, Index Fund Folios Surge Amid Passive Investing Boom

AUM in passive investment segment jumped 23% to ₹11 trillion in 11 months this year

2 mins

Bank Stocks Push Markets Up

Benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 226 points while Nifty settled above the 23,800 mark on Friday following gains in auto and banking shares even as investors turned cautious due to FII outflows and a record fall in the rupee.

1 min

5 Cos Shine on D-St Debut, Deliver Gains of Up to 159%

Five companies that got listed on Friday following their maiden share sales delivered gains between 18 per cent and 159 per cent.

1 min

Insurance penetration ratio has a long way to go

Do you make it simple for customers to understand? These are all crucial factors that have driven the adoption of insurance.

2 mins

8 in 10 app-based taxi users notice dark patterns: Report

Eight in 10 users of app-based taxi service have noticed disparity in cab fares displayed simultaneously on Android devices and iPhones for identical rides, according to a report by LocalCircles.

1 min

Delayed winter rain may bring relief to rabi crops

Delhi and its adjoining northern and central parts of the country woke up to a cold and wet day on Friday as the whole region experienced a long-awaited wet spell in December this year.

1 min

CDSCO flags 2 drugs spurious, 111 fail quality test in Nov '24

The Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Friday flagged select batches of two drugs as spurious and listed 111 other drugs and formulations as not of standard quality.

1 min

NTPC partners US firm for thorium fuel

India's largest power generator NTPC Limited on Friday said it has signed a strategic pact with US-based Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) to explore development and deployment of advanced nuclear energy for enriched life (Aneel).

1 min

Resource gaps present challenges to auction

The Ministry of Mines launched its first-ever offshore mineral auction in November. But a key challenge looms: There is no resource data available for seven G4 (reconnaissance) blocks of polymetallic nodules and crusts located off the coast of the Great Nicobar Island.

1 min

Pieces of a Puzzle

Auto alliances have had a chequered history in India. Can the proposed Honda-Nissan merger change that?

6 mins

For a stronger share of global trade pie

India's trade relations with the world have evolved in the last 25 years. New partnerships have been forged, old ones have been strengthened, but challenges remain

4 mins

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