News: Goods and services tax (GST), one of the biggest reforms in recent decades, will complete five years in July next year. It was expected that after some initial implementation difficulties, the system would stabilise and boost revenue collection along with output. But that doesn’t seem to be happening. While revenue collection has improved, partly… Continue reading Avoid policy adventurism
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Let’s re-emphasize the ‘social’ aspect of our ESG investments
News: Need to start a new ‘bio bond’ asset class to support Biomedical research. In Environment, social and governance investing, while many of the investments goes to environment and governance aspect, Social-welfare investments are often neglected. But there is an urgent need to change this, especially in biomedical research, to make it more sustainable, and… Continue reading Let’s re-emphasize the ‘social’ aspect of our ESG investments
What to look at before investing in ESG funds
News: Earlier this week, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) launched NSE Prime. Environment, social responsibility, and corporate governance have of late emerged as key themes for investors in India. The asset size of ESG funds has increased nearly five times to Rs 12,300 crore over the last couple of years. In this context, recently NSE… Continue reading What to look at before investing in ESG funds
The spirit of disinvestment
News: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has raised questions in a recent report on a smaller deal, involving the purchase by Chennai Port Trust. What is the issue? The government is forcing one PSU to buy another to achieve its disinvestment target. For instance, in the recent past, the ONGC took over… Continue reading The spirit of disinvestment
Sleepwalking into Chinese control of critical tech
News: ISRO has signed an agreement with Chinese smart device manufacturer Oppo to work towards providing NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) messaging services in mobile phones. This has wide implications for the national and cybersecurity in the country as there will be huge exchange of data and technical information through this collaboration. What are… Continue reading Sleepwalking into Chinese control of critical tech
Turmoil on the high seas-Indian shippers need stability assurers
News: Global shipping Industry is facing several challenges in the post pandemic world like surging freight rates, logistical bottlenecks and various supply-chain disruptions. What are the challenges being faced by the shipping industry? Less capacity, more demand: Due to an unexpected increase in consumer demand for goods after the March 2020 lockdowns , shipping… Continue reading Turmoil on the high seas-Indian shippers need stability assurers
Will India Pay For RBI’s Hurry?
News: The RBI, in Mar 2020, issued guidelines prohibiting merchants (including all e-commerce websites, streaming platforms) and payment aggregators (such as Razorpay and Instamojo) from storing customer card information. These will come into effect from 1st Jan 2021. In September 2021, an alternative to the current system was permitted. The alternative system is called Card-on-file… Continue reading Will India Pay For RBI’s Hurry?
On PSB privatisation: Avoidable delay
News: Although, the Finance Minister had announced in this year’s Budget that the government will take up the privatisation of two PSBs. Yet, it unlikely to happen this year. The Finance Minister, in a written reply to the Parliament, said that the Cabinet has not taken any decision in this regard. Moreover, the government will… Continue reading On PSB privatisation: Avoidable delay
On WTO Ruling against Indian Sugar industry – Lasting solution
News: The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled against India’s sugar and sugarcane subsidies Though, the ruling is inconsequential for the country’s current policies concerning the Sugar industry. But it does provide an opportunity to address some of the chronic issues that often require the government to bail this industry out. Read more here: WTO panel’s… Continue reading On WTO Ruling against Indian Sugar industry – Lasting solution
Our semiconductor shortage is likely to persist for a long while
News: The semiconductor chip shortage, currently impacting the automobile industry, is likely to last longer. How the semiconductor industry evolved in the mid-80s? The semiconductor industry underwent a major change in the mid-80s as chips started getting commoditized. – To protect against price risks and secure heavy investments that go into fabs, chipmakers started asked… Continue reading Our semiconductor shortage is likely to persist for a long while
