Business Standard Podcast

Cyclone Biparjoy has weakened. But not before wreaking havoc in Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan. While there was no loss of life reported, normal life has been hit hard. Biparjoy has dealt a big blow to the coastal economy. With the frequency and intensity of such cyclones increasing, what are the larger economic implications?  But the good part is that Biparjoy has given a short relief from scorching heat in parts of northern India. Moving on, JioCinema, it seems, is slowly turning up the heat on its rivals – like Netflix and Amazon Prime. And the modus operandi is the same old tried and tested formula: start with freebies. Jio Cinema streamed the 2023 IPL free of charge. Soon it had over 10 million subscribers. So what does Jio Cinema’s rise mean for the other players?    Let us turn our gaze to financial markets now. With the Sensex and Nifty trading near their respective 52-week highs, are the markets set for a correction? And, what should be your strategy in this backdrop? Are there any sectors and stocks that are still worthy of investment at the current levels? Puneet Wadhwa spoke with market pundits on how they see the markets shaping up over the next few months, and the stocks and sectors that you can still bet on. Defense stocks, meanwhile, will be in the focus for the next few days as Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the United States. And even before the start of his visit, India has approved the acquisition of 31 MQ-9B drones from Washington. As heavy as an African elephant, this drone has earned the reputation of being a silent killer. Listen to this episode of the podcast to know more. 

After hitting sky-high levels on busy routes, airfares have reportedly come down considerably in the last few days. Thanks to government intervention, which had on June 5 asked airlines to “self-monitor” the ticket prices. The prices had skyrocketed in May after the grounding of embattled GoFirst airline. But, is that the only reason airfares shot up in recent weeks? And, does that surge point to a regulatory failure?  GoFirst too plans to take to the skies again by the end of this month. Hope that will further bring down the airfares. Moving on, India’s tutoring industry is already soaring high. It is no more a fledgling sector. Kota, Delhi, Prayagraj, Chennai, … the list of coaching hubs seems never ending. But where do we stand? How big is India’s tutoring industry? And how does it compare to the world?  No wonder, India’s ed-tech sector has done so well in the last few years. Meanwhile, it seems, the country’s financial markets are not performing that well. Equity investment has delivered negligible returns over the past year. It was close to one per cent. And 2023 has so far proved to be a subdued year as investors track the trajectory of global monetary policy. But other asset classes like bank FDs are offering as much as over 9% interest in some cases. Against this backdrop, is it time to turn towards FDs over the near term?  Weather on Dalal Street and beyond has suddenly turned pleasant. It is all due to cyclone Biparjoy -- which made landfall in Gujarat last week, leaving a trail of destruction at ground zero. But thanks to the personnel of the National Disaster Response Force or NDRF, the loss of lives was minimal. Thousands were evacuated on time. But what is NDRF? Listen to this episode of the podcast to know more. 

The Centre’s production-linked incentive, or PLI scheme, which seeks to incentivise manufacturing in India by providing fiscal stimulus, seems to have run into problems. The government is reportedly planning to hold a first-of-its-kind meeting later in June, to address implementation issues being faced by producers under the scheme. Moreover, government sources have indicated that out of the 14 sectors under the scheme, the ones where progress has been sluggish may see a course correction. So, what changes does the PLI scheme need and why?  The detailed analysis and subsequent course correction for the six ‘sluggish sectors’ under the PLI scheme would help in better utilisation of fund allocation over the next two to three years. While India Inc is striving to strengthen its industrial base, a significant number of Indian millionaires have been relocating abroad of late. Though the Indian economy is growing at a faster rate and creating more high net worth individuals, the private wealth migration is a matter of concern. So, why are the HNIs leaving India?    Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve’s surprise hawkish pause of interest rate hike spoiled investors’ sentiment back home, on Thursday. Domestic benchmark indices slipped up to 0.5% after the US Fed projected two more rate hikes this year. Amid the rising interest rate scenario in global economies, will domestic equities face pressure in the near-term? How should investors navigate this volatility?  The Centre recently announced that it will come up with guidelines for ‘dark patterns’ on the internet in the next two months. The ministry of corporate affairs and ASCI met with various stakeholders including Google, Meta and Amazon to discuss these manipulative practices. But what are these ‘dark patterns’? Listen to this episode of the podcast to know more. 

Media baron Subhash Chandra’s rise wasn’t meteoric. It was slow, and carefully crafted. From being a school dropout, he went on to set up India’s first private satellite TV channel -- the Zee TV, which reportedly reaches out to 1.3 billion people. Now 72, Chandra has seen many ups and downs. But, it seems, a lot of things are stacked up against him now. Sebi has barred Chandra and his son Punit Goenka from holding the position of a director or key managerial personnel in any listed company. So, is this the end of the road for Subhash Chandra?   Apart from Subhash Chandra, another news which caught people’s attention this week was of alleged data theft from the government's CoWIN platform. The Centre, meanwhile, has trashed the reports. Minister of State for Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar has tweeted that the data being shared seemed to be from an earlier breach. But, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team has still been told to submit a report on the matter. Amid concerns that the leaked data could be used for identity theft, phishing emails, scams, and even extortion calls, Bhaswar Kumar spoke to experts to understand where the problem lies and how it can be fixed.    Clearly the regulator has its task cut out. And it will not be easy with the swift rise of AI. Meanwhile, markets regulator Sebi has proposed tweaks to the total expense ratio structure-- which is expected to increase cost burden for asset managers. So how can the proposed changes impact stocks of AMCs?  Sebi wants uniformity and transparency by bringing all additional expenses within the TER. Moving on, we are now a step closer to the world of spatial computing -- where the physical world fuses with the digital. Tech giant Apple recently unveiled Apple Vision Pro headset which uses spatial computing. But what is this new technology everyone is talking about? Listen to this episode of the podcast for the answers. 

Generative artificial intelligence has become the watchword across the world. Big firms in countries like the US and China have been investing billions of dollars annually in the AI space. And the generative AI fever has India’s tech start-ups in its grip too. But even with a big government push, can India catch up in the AI tech-development race?  The next few months will be both interesting and crucial, as generative AI takes shape. Moving on, the prices of petrol and diesel are still on fire. Petrol was selling over 110 rupee a litre in Mumbai this week. This is despite low crude prices and a good showing by the Indian oil marketing companies in the recent quarter. So why are Indian oil companies not reducing their prices?  Taking cognizance of oil marketing companies’ Q4 profits -- which surged between 50% and over 150%-- the government has hinted that they may reduce retail prices. But will OMCs accept the government’s suggestion? How will it impact their earnings? And what should be the investors’ strategy?  Stock market is a means to create wealth for millions in the country. But sharing wealth can be as gratifying as creating it. Maybe even more. Nikhil Kamath, the co-founder of Zerodha -- which is India’s biggest stock brokerage in terms of volume of trade -- has been in the news recently for joining ‘The Giving Pledge’ and promising to donate 50% of his wealth. But what exactly is ‘The Giving Pledge’? Listen to this episode of the podcast to know more. 

The genie is out of the bottle now. And it is getting bigger. Since the benefits outweigh the risks, big corporations may not be interested in putting it back. But globally, the chorus for regulating generative artificial intelligence is getting louder by the day. Trade body NASSCOM too recently came out with a set of guidelines for regulating generative AI in India, which is now home to world’s largest population, and is quickly becoming one of the biggest consumer markets for this emerging tech. But, will these regulatory guidelines be enough?  The debate around generative AI has also thrown up questions around data privacy. With the recent massive hack on the AIIMS servers this question has now assumed an urgency. Tushar Verma sheds light on one of the prevalent misuses of our data. Which is the phenomenon of spamming - the scores of unwanted calls and messages that you get daily. So do financial services providers have a licence to spam?  Hope efforts being put by the government and the private sector end up decluttering our message boxes. Let us now turn our gaze to another pressing issue the country is facing. The specter of El-Nino. The first 12 days of this monsoon season has seen nearly 60% less than normal rains. So will El-Nino-linked weather conditions push the inflation in food and fuel higher? And will this fear add to woes of the Indian stocks market in the near-term?  Staying with the topic of weather, cyclone Biparjoy is expected to make a landfall at the Indian coastline in Gujarat on June 15. It has been categorised as a “very severe cyclonic storm". But how are cyclones categorised? Let's understand in this episode of the podcast. 

Byju’s -- India’s most valued start-up -- is in the news, yet again. It has defaulted on payment of $40 million to lenders in the US, and is reportedly effecting another round of lay-offs. US-based asset manager BlackRock too has slashed its valuation by 62%. Things clearly are not looking good, but is there a way out of this debt crisis for Byju’s?  On the other hand Byju’s has introduced generative artificial intelligence in its learning modules to provide students with personalised learning experiences. Worldwide companies are increasingly taking the help of technology to enhance services. Tech giant Apple too has taken another technological leap with its augmented reality headset, called Apple Vision Pro. This device seems to have taken the tech world by storm. So how will this much-anticipated headset change the user experience?  Looks like Apple has put in a lot of thought into making the new headset. Even people with prescription glasses can use it, as Apple has partnered with German opticals manufacturer Zeiss to create magnetic lenses that connect to the inside of the headset. Moving on, India’s stock market, recently, reclaimed its position as the world’s fifth largest market. Over the years, equity trading has seen many changes. One man who saw all these changes is Kisan R Choksey, the chairman-founder of KR Choksey Shares and Securities. In our next segment, Business Standard’s Puneet Wadhwa talks to Kisanbhai, as he is fondly called, to understand what has been his investing mantra over the years? In the first half of 2020, stock markets plummeted across the globe due to the onset of pandemic. The virus also disrupted supply chain, pushing prices of essential commodities. That bad phase is behind us, but prices haven’t come down. Economist Isabella called it “sellers’ inflation. 

The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep the benchmark lending rates unchanged for the second consecutive meeting. While Governor Shaktikanta Das appeared bullish on growth and also lowered inflation projections marginally, he remained cautious about external factors that could affect both inflation and GDP growth going forward. So will the pause by RBI lead to a pivot?  Governor Shaktikanta Das recently acknowledged the role played by banks in supporting the economy and maintaining resilience. But he also sounded a note of caution, and asked public sector banks to further strengthen governance. It comes at a time when the financial health of government-run banks has improved remarkably. So is there reason to worry? And are public sector banks under pressure?  Most bank stocks, meanwhile, fell on Thursday. Equity markets too nursed losses even as the RBI kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5%. Going ahead, analysts see two key factors moving the markets in the near-term. What are these triggers, and what should be investors’ strategy?  Staying with the markets theme, the shares of computer chip designer Nvidia have skyrocketed in the last one year, pushing the company’s valuation beyond one trillion-dollar mark. With it, Nvidia has joined the league of tech giants like Apple, Amazon and Microsoft. Nvidia is the largest GPU manufacturer in the world. Listen to this episode of the podcast to know more. 

India’s passenger vehicle segment is facing a strange situation. While big and swanky cars are zooming out of the showrooms, the smaller ones, it seems, are piling up with wholesale dealers. Inventory levels have soared to 45 days -- up from around 39 days in March. So what does it mean for the car market in India?  While small cars are struggling to hit the fast lane in terms of sales, sale of two-wheelers, meanwhile, saw a good growth of 9% in May due to the wedding season and improved rural incomes. Moving on, the education ministry has come out with the National Institute Ranking Framework, 2023. And IIT Madras is at the top again -- for the fifth year running. But how does IIT Madras continue to beat the rest? And why have the newer IITs seen a fall in their rankings?  Interestingly, IIT Madras is also mulling developing a driverless car by 2025. Well then, from the country’s premier institutes, let’s turn our gaze to the largest conglomerate. Shares of oil-to-telecom major Reliance Industries have underperformed benchmark indices in the past one year. Foreign portfolio investors, too, have trimmed their holdings in the stock over the past few quarters. So what has led to this steep fall in the conglomerate’s shares? And will the Dalal Street’s big boy reverse its downtrend?  Moving on to our last segment, today we are decoding two interesting terms that were recently coined by world leaders. G7 countries have stressed their desire to “de-risk,” and not “de-couple,” from the Chinese economy. But what do these two terms mean and how are they different? Listen to this episode of the podcast to know more. 

The government came out with the National Electricity Plan last week. It says that India’s power generation capacity will touch 900 gigawatts by the end of this decade -- in line with the rising demand. But it also wants a rejig in the country’s energy mix. The plan is to cut the share of coal-based power and let renewable energy sources fill that gap. But, given that the base load might still depend on coal, is the goal too ambitious?  Unseasonal rains, meanwhile, have kept a tab on electricity demand this summer. But, it seems, the airfares are on fire this season. On some routes, the fare is now 10 times higher than what it was a few days ago. So should the government intervene to bring down the prices of airline tickets?  After the skyrocketing airfares, let us turn our gaze to markets. Indian equity markets are still not a top buy for Morgan Stanley, who prefer Japan, Korea and Taiwan more in the Asian region. Business Standard’s Puneet Wadhwa caught up with JONATHAN GARNER, Morgan Stanley’s Asia Equity Strategist on the sidelines of Morgan Stanley India Investment Forum in Mumbai to understand the rationale for this, and where does India exactly lie on their preference list. In its recent June report too, Morgan Stanley retained the equal-weight stance on Indian equity markets. After the financial markets, let us now dive into the realms of the dictionary. How many of you know the spelling of ‘psammophile’ (pronounced Sam uh file)? Well, 14-year-old Dev Shah, who won the United States’ prestigious National Spelling Bee championship last week, knew it. It was the winning word for him. A host of Indian-origin students have won this award in the past too. Listen to this episode of the podcast to know more. 

On June 4th, two days after a three-train crash resulted in 275 deaths and 1,175 injuries in Odisha’s Balasore district, the Ministry of Railways recommended an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the incident. A railways official also said that the Ministry of Home Affairs was already assisting the Railways in the probe and preliminary findings indicated a signalling error. While we wait for more answers, let us analyse how the Railways has performed when it comes to ensuring the safety of its passengers. How is it managing critical areas like signalling and maintenance? And which zones are lagging behind?  Safety concerns of the Indian Railway need to be addressed urgently, especially at a time when the national transporter is seeing a significant adoption of technology. However, the railways are not the only sector in India that is set for a technological leap. As PM Narendra Modi prepares to leave for his first state visit to the US in 15 years, India is set to elevate its strategic technology partnership with the US in defence, energy and space. Among various agreements, all eyes will be on the GE Jet Engines pact. So, what are all on the agenda for Modi-Biden to meet? And what should we expect from this?  Meanwhile, equity markets in India continue to face volatility as fears of a global slowdown have kept investors on the edge offsetting hopes of ease in the monetary tightening cycle. So, should investors play it safe and stick to defensive themes amid current uncertainty?  On June 4, as the restoration efforts at the scene of the Balasore train accident were being evaluated, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that the change in electronic interlocking was to blame for the tragedy. It resulted in the death of more than 275 passengers. Find out the crucial role that Electronic Interlocking Systems plays in railway safety in this episode of the podcast. 

India has reopened the window for applying to its ambitious chip-making plan after the three aspirants failed to qualify for the financial incentives. And it has also tweaked the old scheme -- extending incentives for wafers of all sizes. So what forced the government to tweak its semiconductor policy? And, how can India's chip making dream be realised?  While India’s chip making plan is still waiting in the wings, its bid to become a phone exporting country has finally taken off. Driven by Apple’s bumper shipments, India’s overall smartphone exports crossed the 40,000-crore-rupee mark for the first time in FY 23. Meanwhile, the iPhone maker’s first two stores in India have grossed sales of about 50 crores in less than 45 days of their opening.  In India, this is a record as far as sales for any electronics store are concerned. So, has Tim Cook’s India bet paid off? And what are the challenges ahead as Apple's competitor Samsung also plans to open its own stores here?    Over 6 to 7000 fans had thronged the opening of Apple’s retail stores in Delhi and Mumbai. Tim Cook was overwhelmed with the reception he got in the country. Moving on, let us turn our gaze to Mint Street. The RBI’s monetary policy committee will meet between June 6th and 8th this week. While investors expect the central bank to hold the repo rate for a second straight meeting at 6.5%, it would be RBI governor Shaktikanta Das' commentary that would trigger the next directional move in the markets. Will the governor's address help markets move out of the consolidation phase? And how do rate sensitive sectors look on the charts ahead of the policy?  Well, in these times of high-frequency trading, a millisecond can make a lot of difference. Information travels at the speed of light now. Thanks to the Internet. And do you know that for most big corporates, data centres play a crucial role. They are also called Internet exchange points - or colloquially “carrier hotels” where the internet lives. Listen to this episode of the podcast for answers.   

Indian banks are on a roll. The cumulative profit of government banks has soared 57% in FY 23 from the last fiscal to breach the one trillion-rupee mark. And the net profit of private lenders shot up by 23% YoY. The bad loan burden -- which had kept them down for nearly a decade - too has lightened. But, amid all this, the regulator is advising caution. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has warned banks against hiding stress and pointed to gaps in governance at certain banks. So, why is the Governor worried?  While Indian banks are on a roll, the startups, it seems, have run out of steam. Their run of bad luck -- which started in the second half of 2022 -- still continues. Funding for domestic startups fell 75% YoY in the first quarter of calendar year 2023. So why are foreign investors circumspect? And what can startups do to convince them to loosen the purse string and release the dry powder?  The shares of several new age companies, which include startups like Zomato and Paytm are, it seems, on a recovery path. They have gained 10-34% so far in 2023. Moving on, the Q4 earnings season has wrapped with no major surprises for investors. But as the outlook for some pockets, especially non-banks, remains weak, will India Inc. continue to grapple with an earnings downgrade ahead?    After the markets, let us turn our focus to the banking sector – which was the theme of our first story. Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das has cautioned banks against aggressive growth strategies and the evergreening of loans. But what exactly is this evergreening of loans? Listen to this episode of the podcast to know more.  

Indian economy grew by 6.1% in the final quarter of financial year 2023 -- nudging the overall growth rate to breach the 7 per cent mark. But what led to this surprise buoyancy in the GDP numbers during the March quarter? And what are the key factors which made this possible?  A positive consumer sentiment is indeed a good news for players in the FMCG sector -- where margin is thin, and competition stiff. And a player with deep pockets is continuously heating up the competition. Reliance Retail is now consolidating its business-to-business vertical. A few months after starting a price war in the grocery B2B space with large discounts, JioMart is now trying to improve margins. It fired over 1,000 workers in May and has plans to lay off many more soon. So what does the company plan to achieve? And, how will it shape its future?  Now that we’ve looked at what’s happening at the country’s largest conglomerate, let’s see how the new age companies are performing. Their operational performance remained positive in the March quarter. The stocks, too, have shown recovery from their lows. So should investors add these to their portfolios?  The key benchmark indices wilted under selling pressure on the last day of May, as traders chose to take home some gains after the four-day rally. Moving on, a WTO panel has ruled that India’s import duties on some information and technology products are inconsistent with global trade norms. India is now mulling approaching the WTO’s appellate body against this ruling. But ever wondered what is WTO? Listen to this episode of the podcast for answers. 

IPL 2023 finally came to an end on May 29, with the Chennai Super Kings clinching its fifth win. The latest edition was remarkable for several records broken and milestones established on field. But off the field too, the massive viewership numbers for IPL 2023 seems to have given its OTT broadcaster — Jio Cinema — a big push in its race for a place among the leaders of India’s OTT-space. But, is the Reliance-owned streaming platform ready to take on giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime?    JioCinema didn’t break new ground with its free IPL streaming. But its entry will make a big dent on the ARPUs of other OTT platforms – just like it did for the telecom players in 2016 and 2017. On the other side of the globe, the world’s fourth largest economy meanwhile is facing a technical recession. Germany, recorded a 0.3% contraction in GDP in the first quarter of this year. Among various reasons, a prime trigger is the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war that has disrupted the supply of natural gas. Germany is also one of the prime destinations for India’s exports. So, will the Indian economy take a hit because of the recession in Deutschland?    So, the good news is, recession in Germany alone will not significantly impact India’s merchandise exports. Back in India, shares of Gautam Adani’s conglomerate are clawing back from an epic rout, after a Supreme Court panel found no evidence of regulatory failure or market manipulation in stock prices. Can the billionaire now convince investors and lenders to infuse fresh capital in the Group? Besides, how does the road ahead looks like for group stocks?  Summer is here. Notwithstanding some rain relief in Northern India, the country is reeling under scorching heat. Meanwhile, a heat dome phenomenon has been reportedly occurring in the United States since the past month. The unique weather condition is also common in north-western India and some parts of China and Bangladesh during the summers. So, what is a heat dome? Listen to this episode of the podcast for answers.