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Showing posts from March, 2021

Assembly Elections Live Updates: Amit Shah, Rahul Gandhi to campaign in Assam for Phase-3 polls; Mamata Banerjee to campaign in Hooghly and Howrah

Assembly Election 2021 Live Updates: While the focus has now shifted to Phase-3 polls in West Bengal and Assam, the campaigning has intensified in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for April 6 polls. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3cD2cKA https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

Covid-19: To avoid lockdown, states must step up RT-PCR testing; Centre must free up vaccine pricing

States need to step up vaccination efforts, especially in high-incidence districts. As per Our World In Data, the seven-day rolling average for daily vaccine doses administered in the country was 1.8 million on March 29; at this rate, covering the remainder of the population would take more than two years! from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3w94EjH https://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Financial Express

The rising importance of the middle class in India

India would soon have a middle class that is proportionately as large as that of the US today. The government is unlikely to be able to provide the quantity and quality of services that will be demanded, even in areas like health, education and water that have evolved as public-sector areas in other countries. India will have to adopt hybrid systems, with private and public service providers from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3uc7ORB https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Chinese whispers: WHO-China joint probe, as was expected, leaves nobody any wiser about SARS CoV-2’s origins

If the long delay wasn’t reason enough for any such probe to remain inconclusive, the fact that the probe was constantly under the shadow of the Chinese government should have been an indicator of the futility of undertaking any such exercise. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/2PD4X5n https://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Financial Express

‘Retail segment is waiting to be mined’

Bank of Baroda (BoB) expects to grow above industry levels in the next financial year. In an interview, Vikramaditya Singh Khichi, executive director (ED), BoB, highlights the reasons to Ankur Mishra for the bank's stellar growth in the home loan segment. Excerpts: from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3sBftc2 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

REITable office assets across major cities valued at Rs 2.62L cr

The potential of REIT market in India in 2021 seems bright with both investors and developers expressing optimism following the successful launch of three such vehicles in the country in the last 20 months, which is further helped by improved liquidity, transparency and corporate governance. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/39tARZ0 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Rishi Ranjan Kala

Public-Private Partnership: NHAI may take BOT route for new projects

Though it has not yet fixed the project target for the next fiscal, NHAI is likely to keep the target at 4,500 km, same as the current fiscal. Till February of the current financial year, NHAI has awarded around 3,600 km highway projects in which EPC has around 60% share while the remaining has gone through the hybrid annuity model (HAM). from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/39qKlnZ https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Surya Sarathi Ray

At some point, we’ll pay — New data suggests that could be the mantra of central PSUs

In a nutshell, if you are in business with the government, be ready to have your loans declared NPAs if your payment gets stuck with the government. While various ministers have, from time to time—finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said this during the pandemic—talked of getting PSUs to clear their dues on time, sadly, there have not been too many solutions that have worked so far. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/39nRPYS https://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Financial Express

‘This is Bengal, mind games won’t work’: TMC responds to Amit Shah’s BJP sweep prediction in Phase-I

West Bengal Election 2021: In the early days of campaigning, a number of opinion polls predicted an edge for the TMC. However, the BJP has gradually picked up the pace and some polls now even suggest that it has marched ahead of the TMC. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3weTbPF https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister ‘trapped’ as he is ‘corrupt,’ alleges Rahul Gandhi

Addressing a public meeting here for the April 6 Assembly polls, Gandhi said when he saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'controlling' the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and making him "touch his feet silently I am not ready to accept it." from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3cv4AmA https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Shriparna Saha

Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE: In Kerala, Rajnath Singh promises legislation to protect traditions of Sabrimala

Assembly Elections 2021: One of the star campaigners of the BJP, Rajnath Singh said Kerala believes that it needs a new political alternative and the BJP can provide it. The LDF, he said, should come out with an 'Action Taken Report' on their promises rather than giving false hopes. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3crdfWS https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

Across the Aisle: Go back, Viceroy of Delhi

Delhi is the National Capital of India. It is acknowledged that the government of Delhi has to be different from the governments of states; yet, if that government must be a democratic government, it must put the people at the centre of the government. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3dgJLKH https://ift.tt/eA8V8J P Chidambaram

How Union Budget changes GST law to move onus away from professionals to taxpayers

Indirect Taxes Budget 2021 was crucial because of the collocation of two contrasting situations in the current economic scenario, namely the government's endeavor to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2025 and the economic slowdown of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3crzg8b https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Sachin Tendulkar, Aamir Khan to Paresh Rawal: Top celebrities hit by second wave of Covid-19

In another significant development, versatile actor Paresh Rawal yesterday took to twitter sharing that he has contracted the virus. Rawal wrote that unfortunately he has tested positive for Coronavirus and requested everyone who may have come in touch with him in the last few days to get tested for the disease. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3sujHSv https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

Coronavirus Lockdown Live Updates: Sachin Tendulkar tests positive for COVID-19; 62,000 cases in India today

Coronavirus Lockdown in India, Covid Cases Today Latest Update: Telangana government has said that no more lockdown will be imposed in the state while Maharashtra has imposed a state-wide night curfew from tomorrow (March 28) from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/39ju44c https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

Uncertainty over recovery grows

The IIP contracted 1.6% y-o-y in January, as compared with a growth of 1.6% in December. Mining and manufacturing output declined 3.7% and 2%, respectively, in January 2021. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3tVMD6o https://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Financial Express

West Bengal Assembly Election 2021 Phase 1 Voting Live: Polling underway to seal fate of 191 candidates in 30 constituencies

WB Election 2021 Live, West Bengal Assembly Election Phase 1 Polling Live Updates: In the first phase, polling is taking place amid strict COVID-19 guidelines in all nine seats in Purulia, four in Bankura, four in Jhargram and six in Paschim Medinipur, besides the seven seats in high-stakes Purba Medinipur. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3ctnXfM https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

Assam Assembly Elections 2021: Voting tomorrow for 47 constituencies in Phase 1; Over 81 lakh voters to decide fate of 264 candidates

Assam Assembly Elections 2021 Phase 1 Voting Tomorrow: Around 81,09,815 voters will decide the fate of 264 candidates which includes big shots like Chief Minister Sarbananada Sonowal, Atul Bora, Akhil Gogoi and Ripun Bora. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/31h5zjG https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

Coronavirus Lockdown 2021, state-wise cases today Live Updates: Fire in Mumbai Covid hospital, 1 dead

Coronavirus Lockdown in India 2021, state-wise total cases Live Updates: India continues to report an increasing number of daily Covid-19 cases. Yesterday, India reported more than 50,000 cases. Meanwhile, a COVID-19 patient died and 70 others were evacuated after a fire broke out at a hospital in Mumbai, PTI quoted a fire brigade official as saying […] from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/31iGODA https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

Valuations of stock markets remain a concern: DBS Bank

Valuations of the Indian equities remain a concern for investment strategists. While presenting the DBS CIO Insights Report for 2Q21 titled ‘Back on Track,’ the global bank said that the Indian economy was also witnessing strong growth which was in line with the global recovery. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3w0D5c8 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Bureau

Urban Mobility: What causes India’s congestion?

This is due to the nature of urban transport, where roads are multipurpose public goods, used by various classes of motorised and non-motorised vehicles, as well as a wide variety of other users such as street-sellers, children playing and animals. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3sAWONe https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Inflection Point: Before net-zero, comes the peak

In developed countries, emissions have already peaked. Their decision is only about the path to net-zero. Emerging economies like India, instead, will go through a high-growth phase with rising energy demand and emissions. So, before a net-zero year can be targeted, India must discuss options for its peaking year from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3fppcyv https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Boxed in on China

The Biden administration needs to abandon the unworkable bilateral framework of the phase one deal and the tariffs that support it from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3vWwFdU https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Stephen S Roach

Antibody study involving South African variant of SARS CoV-2 kindles hopes of broad-spectrum shot

This opens doors for the development of vaccine candidates that can take on many SARS CoV-2 variants, and if the antibodies triggered by B.1.351 target the non-differentiated parts of the spike protein, then it could be a home run for the fighting all incarnations of SARS CoV-2. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3w5H6MD https://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Financial Express

Fresh Round: Dream 11 parent firm raises $400 million

The company claims that it is the largest investment in the Indian sports tech ecosystem to date. “We have created the fantasy sports category in India to drive digital engagement to real-life sporting events and bring fans closer to the sport they love,” said CEO & co-founder Harsh Jain. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/31g44SS https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Bureau

Coronavirus Lockdown 2021 Live News: ‘Aaj raat baarah baje se…’ – India marks 21-day lockdown anniversary as second wave grips nation

Covid-19 Lockdown in India, Coronavirus Lockdown One Year Anniversary Today Live Updates: India is seeing the second wave of coronavirus with major metros and small towns reporting a high number of cases with each passing day. On Tuesday, 276 people lost their lives, sharpest single-day rise in Covid deaths seen this year. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3faKVd1 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

Market LIVE: Sensex, Nifty may open in red; Barbeque Nation IPO opens, Anupam Rasayan shares to list today

Share Market News Today | Sensex, Nifty, Share Prices LIVE: On Wednesday morning, SGX Nifty was down in the red, hinting at a gap-down start for equity markets. Stock markets in the United States were down in the red on Tuesday. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3vVEbpC https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

PSBs must focus on good banking

Given PSBs’ historical advantage of having large albeit underutilised consortium limits, including pre-existing CC/OD accounts, they need to grab this tactical opportunity to deepen wallet share with the corporates and improve return on their assets from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3f8tQQZ https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Distilled Pragmatism: Delhi’s new liquor policy raises a toast to revenue, private vending of liquor in NCT

While some would argue that this would have a negative bearing on addiction among youth, illegal consumption is a bitter reality and, drinking-age restrictions are one of the factors propping a thriving liquor grey market that exists sans quality control. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3sj7MHb https://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Financial Express

Designing India’s reform agenda

Land and labour reforms are important, so one can’t fault successive governments for trying to tackle these. But, the binding constraints on the growth of industry in India seem to lie elsewhere from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3tP0Z8B https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Nirvikar Singh

Initiate coverage on GCPL with ‘neutral’; TP at Rs 770

While Godrej Consumer (GCPL) has underperformed Nifty by c.26%/11%/ 14% over the past 1/2/3 years, we remain cautious, as we believe two of its three core growth drivers (India household insecticides, Indonesia) are still not out of the woods and can moderate earnings. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3tLvAUp https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Nomura

Why are PSB staff wary?

From their perspective, once government-owned banks are privatised, there is nothing to stop the staff from being rationalised through VRS programmes, which, as seen in some of the leading private sector banks, has always been a compulsory separation. Even when RBI enables bank mergers, terms and pay are protected for only a fixed period of time, which can be no more than three years from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3sh1Yy6 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Madan Sabnavis

Online beauty retailer Purplle raises $45 m from Sequoia, existing investors

The company will use the capital to fund its growth. The firm aims to “deliver eight-ten times growth in the next four to five years”, it said in a statement. The brand already claims to be witnessing a surge in overall volumes, transaction value, and an increase in users. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3f7eMmW https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Bureau

Tata-led JV wins bid for MAHSR project work

Financial bids for the project’s management consultancy services were opened on Monday. This includes supervision of all 13 civil works packages including viaducts, concrete/ steel bridges, tunnels (undersea and mountain tunnels), civil work of all 12 stations, maintenance depots, and training institute building. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3c8ROtF https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Bureau

FE CFO awards: Celebrating CFOs

In its fourth edition now, the FE CFO Awards will once again applaud the country’s top finance professionals. Nitin Gadkari, Union minister for road transport, highways and MSME, will preside over awards ceremony on Tuesday as the chief guest. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3961H9C https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Bureau

Goa Municipal Election Results 2021 LIVE: Trends show BJP ahead with win in 14 of 18 wards counted so far

Goa Municipal Election Results, Goa Local Body Election Results 2021 Live Updates: Nearly 83 per cent voter turnout was recorded during the polls to six civic bodies and the Corporation of City of Panaji (CCP). The six civic bodies that went to polls last Saturday are Canacona, Curchorem-Cacora, Bicholim, Cuncolim, Valpoi and Pernem. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3rf4vri https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

China’s rail projects: A stratagem of statecraft

The String of Pearls and the steel choker are nothing but the dragon’s coils around India: Be it road, railway or maritime links along and inside Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, China is busy developing extensive multi-modal connectivity all along India’s neighbourhood, viewed, not entirely without reason, as India’s containment from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/312yzf5 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Raghu Dayal

Digital payments to skyrocket 3X to over Rs 7,000 lakh cr by FY25; mobile payments to see highest growth

The digital payments market, which has been led by companies such as Paytm, PhonePe, Pine Labs, Razorpay, BharatPe, and others on both B2C and B2B sides, has surged expeditiously with businesses offering cash backs, rewards, and offers to woo customers. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3tE4sqo https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Sandeep Soni

Param Bir Singh letter: Charges against Anil Deshmukh serious, Uddhav Thackeray has ‘full authority’ to probe allegations, says Sharad Pawar

Sharad Pawar said that there won't be any impact of the incident on the state government. "I don't know whether efforts are being made or not to topple the government (Maharashtra). All I can say is they will have no impact on the government," Sharad Pawar said while responding to a question from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/2PajzJe https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

Here’s how much Tesla’s Elon Musk owns in bitcoin now from only 0.25 BTC back in 2018

Elon Musk had bought $1.5 billion in bitcoin in February this year that had renewed the argument around his priority to address climate change on one hand and bitcoin’s impact on the environment due to the immense energy required to mine it on the other. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/39j9jpt https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

After Param Bir Singh’s letter bomb, Raj Thackeray’s fresh explosive: Anil Deshmukh must be sacked if he doesn’t resign

Raj Thackeray's remarks come just a day after former Mumbai Commissioner Param Bir Singh on Saturday wrote to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, levelling serious charges of 'extortion' by state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.  from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3tHkkZa https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

ECLGS for MSMEs: HDFC Bank disbursed Rs 23,000 crore to small businesses under emergency credit scheme

Credit and Finance for MSMEs: The government had launched the Rs 3 lakh crore scheme on May 13, 2020, as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat package to provide emergency credit to businesses from banks and NBFCs up to 20 per cent of the entire outstanding credit as of February 20, 2020. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3cT7vnV https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

Coalitions are collaborations better than single party autocratic regimes and deliver better outcomes

There are many examples at the state level. The DMK was founded on regional pride, love of Tamil, self-respect, anti-superstition and anti-caste. Its splinter, the AIADMK, was ostensibly born out of a crusade against corruption. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3c4GK0A https://ift.tt/eA8V8J P Chidambaram

Coronavirus Lockdown 2021 Live News: India reports 40,953 new Covid-19 cases, highest in 2021; clamour for wider vaccination grows

Coronavirus Lockdown 2021 Live News March 20 Maharashtra Lockdown Day 6: India reported 40,953 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day rise recorded in 111 days, taking the country's Covid-19 tally to 1,15,55,284 from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3lxFE0s https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

India-US talks: MDO, intelligence sharing, and operationalizing agreements to be discussed; Lloyd Austin calls on NSA Ajit Doval

Both the US Navy and the Indian Navy have signed a loan agreement and installed two Pacific fleet- provided CENTRIXS systems at the Indian Navy headquarters and the two sides are in discussions for installing several more at other locations. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3eZMcUu https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Huma Siddiqui

Word Wars: Biden calls Putin a “killer”, Putin and his aides call Biden “senile”, and a “killer” too

At a time, when faith in the carefully crafted post Cold War global consensus is fraying, when there is a pandemic raging with great human cost, leaders of the top powers badmouthing each other isn’t going to help. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/2QnJOfX https://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Financial Express

Coronavirus Lockdown 2021 Live News: As India records highest increase in daily Covid cases, demand for vaccine for all gets louder

Coronavirus Lockdown 2021 Live News March 19: So far (Till Thursday evening) India has vaccinated 3.89 crore people even as states like Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala and Delhi have been reporting their daily highest in number of Covid-19 cases for the past few days from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3tAZpXP https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Online

Price pinch: Who pays the price of oil?

The effect of higher oil prices is likely to spread widely, denting tax revenues, corporate margins, household purchasing power. We estimate that it could lower GDP growth by 0.6ppt, raise inflation by 0.7ppt and widen the trade deficit by 0.8ppt. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3bSXo37 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Urgent missive: Trai moves to curb pesky messages

During the last couple of years, Trai has repeatedly asked all stakeholders to follow the rules and various communications had been sent. On March 8, the telecom industry decide to start blocking all commercial messages, which were not sent in the prescribed format. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/30Uo1yw https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Kiran Rathee

ICICI Venture, Morgan Stanley, Poonawalla invest Rs 525 cr in Magma HDI insurance

ICICI Venture and Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia along with the Cyza Chem (a Poonawalla Group company) and two family offices are investing Rs 525 crore in Magma HDI General Insurance, a joint venture between Magma Fincorp and HDI Global SE, Germany. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3bTsRSP https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Bureau

Highway buildout to hit record 34 km/day

Assuming construction pace in March to be at the same level as in February, 2020-21 would likely see new highway stretches of 13,400 km (37 km per day) built, according to officials. In the past, it was only in 2018-19 that the pace of building of highways neared the 30 km/day mark. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/2P3Czc9 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Surya Sarathi Ray

Plan In Motion: Cabinet clears development finance institution to raise Rs 3 lakh crore for infrastructure spend

The government expects the DFI to raise as much as Rs 3 lakh crore over the next few years, leveraging the proposed initial capital of Rs 20,000 crore, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said after the Cabinet meeting. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3ttmQ5j https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Bureau

Achieving sustainable growth: Make sustainability the focus of policy

Sound policy should ensure that societal costs are adequately captured in economic costs, and societal benefits accrue congruently with economic benefits. The divergence of stakeholder return maximisation and societal payoffs must be eliminated by customised fiscal architecture from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/2OwaHhf https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Connecting The Dots: How Covid-19 pandemic could prove to be an opportunity to build more & better infrastructure

Infrastructure financing, asset monetisation and the increasing importance of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) parameters—a strategy that integrates these themes would generate higher infrastructure investment, thus making the whole more than the sum of its parts. In this way, the Covid-19 pandemic could prove to be an opportunity to build back (more and) better from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3rS4Ot7 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Watching Big Brother: Safeguards against snooping don’t hold up in too many cases

The Rajasthan episode is also a warning; when the political leadership of a government desires it, the people manning the bodies that are supposed to check against the government’s excesses may, more likely than not, quietly toe the line. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3eMHqcH https://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Financial Express

Plastic Ban: Govt does well to come up with phased plan, but must support MSMEs in transitioning to alternatives

The Centre has proposed that single-use plastics such as plastic sticks in earbuds and balloons, plastic flags, candy- and ice-cream-sticks, and polystyrene for decoration be banned from January 1, 2022 from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3qSLlal https://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Financial Express

Govt delays: BSNL hopes hybrid 4G tender will help

The first option suggests a two-part tender in which the expressions of interest (EoIs) for Part A comprising 50,000 sites should be reserved for Indian vendors, who should build the core of the network under a system integrated model. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/2OzNY3M https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Kiran Rathee

We want to be more aggressive on strategic mergers and acquisitions: Thierry Delaporte, CEO and MD, Wipro

We are gearing up to tap the opportunities on offer, especially the growing demand for our Cloud services, digital transformation services, and digital operations, and we plan to win in the marketplace while still being driven by our values and company mandate. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3bRltHA https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Ex-promoters can’t suggest revival scheme under Companies Act: Supreme Court

A bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud upheld the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s view that Section 29A of the IBC specifically disqualified former promoters from participating in the insolvency process and this disqualification also extended to a proposal for revival under Section 230 of the Companies Act. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3tnL94G https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Indu Bhan

‘NEP will make Indian universities global’

Many experiments with blended, virtual and digital learning that would have otherwise taken a decade to try and implement happened overnight (due to Covid-19), says Aditya Berlia, co-founder & pro-chancellor, Apeejay Stya University. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3tjoxlD https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Vikram Chaudhary

Happy Birthday Alia Bhatt! Gangubai Kathiawadi to RRR, 5 films every movie buff is waiting for

Happy Birthday Alia Bhatt! From edgy roles in movies such as Highway and Raazi to spunky performances in Badrinath ki Dulhania and 2 States, Alia Bhat has shown mind-boggling diversity in the choice of characters she has played on the big screen. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3rRXw8E https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Surabhi Pandey

Need to make cryptocurrency illegal: An ‘official cryptocurrency’ can create confusion & unease amongst citizens

The fight against black money is still on and tax data does not show that there has been encouraging success in this area. Under these conditions, it is best to keep away from cryptocurrencies and illegalise the same. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3cuftDH https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Madan Sabnavis

Economy: Recovery continues but losing tempo; labour-intensive sectors still remain sluggish

The performance of the core sector, for instance, continued to improve in January but at a slower pace; the increase was 0.1% month-on-month seasonally adjusted versus 2.2% in the previous months. Worryingly, construction-related sub-sectors are lagging the other sectors; agriculture is doing exceptionally well. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/2OSEekS https://ift.tt/eA8V8J FE Bureau

Zero merchant discount rate (MDR): Peer-to-merchant (P2M) volumes more than debit cards

UPI had been known more for running up high volumes in peer-to-peer (P2P) payments with the P2M piece accounting for 20-30%. That seems to have changed with social distancing norms and lockdowns across the country compelling a chunk of people to make payments digitally. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3qMLFHx https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Shritama Bose