All new Maruti Baleno launched with sporty front grill: Check price, specs

The updated Maruti Suzuki Baleno features a new sporty front grill with wider stance, apart from having precision cut smoked two-tone 16-inch alloy wheels.

Business Standard : The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India Monday launched an updated version of its popular premium hatchback Baleno, priced between Rs 5.4 lakh and Rs 8.77 lakh.

The updated Baleno features a new sporty front grill with wider stance, apart from having precision cut smoked two-tone 16-inch alloy wheels, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement.

Besides, it also has a new infotainment system with rear parking camera integration, navigation with live traffic and vehicle information, and alerts on the screen further add to the driving convenience, it added.

Commenting on the launch, MSI Senior Executive Director, Marketing and Sales R S Kalsi said, "Keeping our customer-centric philosophy at the core of product conceptualization, this new Baleno will further enhance the brand's appeal".

He said the Baleno has been a resounding success for Maruti Suzuki in the highly competitive premium hatchback segment.

"Recently, it has achieved another landmark in its journey by achieving a milestone of 5 lakh sales within a record time of 38 months," Kalsi added.

The Baleno continues to be available in both 1.2 litre petrol and 1.3 litre diesel engines options.

The petrol variant is priced between Rs 5.4 lakh and Rs 7.45 lakh for manual transmission option, while the automatic transmission option is pegged between Rs 7.48 and Rs 8.77 lakh.

The diesel variant is available only in manual transmission option priced between Rs 6.6 lakh and Rs 8.6 lakh (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).

MSI said the new Baleno has safety features, including dual airbags, ABS (antilock braking system) with EBD (electronic brake force distribution) and brake assist, pre-tensioner and force limiter seat belts with reminder, ISOFIX child restraint system, speed alert system and rear parking sensors are standard across variants.

"Baleno complies with offset, side crash and pedestrian safety norms," the company said.

Wipro boosts local hiring to ramp up delivery in onshore locations

IT firm pursues localisation drive in US, Europe and Australia, also doubles campus hiring in India this year with demand uptick.

With adoption of protectionist policies by governments across the world, a lot of human resource related actions of Wipro are now shifting to onsite locations including the US, Europe and Australia. The IT services firm is replicating a model similar to that of India, which it has been following for quite long, to ramp up delivery presence and hire more locals as part of its workforce in client geographies.

(Business Standard)

"We are doing absolutely the same thing in the US and other markets, that we used to do here (in India). We are hiring graduates from campuses, training them before putting in projects," said Saurabh Govil, president and chief human resource officer at Wipro.

This is reflecting in its localisation drive, especially in the US which is by far the largest market for Indian IT services companies including Wipro. Close to 63 per cent of Wipro’s workforce in the US now constitute of local American employees as compared to 30 per cent, three years ago. Even though Wipro does not share its US employee number, experts estimate the number at around 14,000.

"We are doing big time localisation in the US," said Govil. “We now have new delivery centres in Dallas, East Coast, West Coast and Mid-West. The model is to get an anchor customer and grow a development centre around that.” Apart from the US, the IT firm is also following the same approach in the UK and Australia.

While the company is hiring more locals in onshore locations, it is taking a careful approach in maintaining bench strength (number of reserve employees who are not deployed in any client project). To serve its clients in North America and Europe region, Wipro is taking the help of nearshore delivery centres in Mexico, Brazil, Romania and Ireland among others.

With demand uptick, Wipro has also hired more employees in India after hitting slow lane in last two years. In 2018, the IT firm had doubled its campus hires as compared to previous year.

While in September quarter, the company had added 10,687 employees; its net addition in December quarter stood at 928. "In last quarter, hiring was slow due to lot of holidays, furloughs and client shutdowns. Otherwise, it remained robust. We had doubled our hiring from campuses this year as compared to last year," Govil said.

However, the company indicated that employee addition would moderate in coming quarters for the industry with the shift in revenue flows. "While there is a lot of hiring for the right skillsets, we are also seeing a lot of growth coming now from non-linear ways including platforms, IPs and consultancy areas. That's a shift, which is happening," the Chief HRO of Wipro said.

Interim Budget 2019: What's in store for investors, taxpayers, economy?

From doling out sops for the farm sector and providing some relief to the individual income-tax payers, here's what leading brokerages expect from the budget.

With barely a few days left for the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government to present the Interim Budget 2019, most domestic and foreign brokerages expect the measures to have a populist undertone ahead of the general elections scheduled for April / May 2019.

From doling out sops for the farm sector and providing some relief to the individual income-tax payers, here’s what leading brokerages expect.

(Business Standard)

CLSA

The pressure to further expand the farmer welfare programme ahead of the 2019 national elections is high for PM Modi. A possible announcement of a nationwide direct farmer support scheme is quite likely, or possibly even earlier. A Telangana-style scheme could cost ~ Rs1.2trn, further complicating fiscal maths, as it could be a recurring liability. The RBI’s possible large dividend might help just one time.

The GST-led tax revenue shortfall of 75-80bps of GDP is not reflected in the reduced government expenditure for FY19 due to off-balance-sheet funding, which is not a sustainable solution and will create its own problems later and distort the reported fiscal deficit for FY19.

We expect the ‘real’ government expenditure growth to slow down. The impact on capex will be even greater if the farmer support scheme is implemented. ITC should see some relief rally, as the budget is unlikely to tinker with tobacco taxation.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

We expect the Center to target a fiscal deficit of 3.5% of GDP in FY20, after ending FY19 at 3.7%, 40bp higher than target. This should be funded by running down the Center's surplus with the RBI without additional issuance. While a pre-election Budget should ideally not propose new direct taxes, the finance minister should take steps to alleviate stress in rural India (metaphorically Bharat) via subvention or direct income transfer and for small industries via subvention.

Nomura

The interim budget would provide an opportunity for the government to outline its medium-term economic priorities, specifically with regards to improving farm/rural incomes. We pencil in GFD/GDP of 3.2% in FY2020E after 3.5% for FY2019E. Outside of the farm sector, we expect a focus on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the middle class. We do not expect any big tax changes in the interim budget (if any, they will be announced in the final budget to be presented in June/July).

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Halal internet? This browser promises to be compliant with Islamic values

SalamWeb relies on community-vetted content filters that mark web pages as appropriate, neutral or inappropriate, while warning users when they approach sites with gambling or pornography.

A Malaysian startup is betting that there’s plenty of pent-up demand for a new browser that’s compliant with Islamic values, at a time of mounting concerns over privacy, bias and online abuse over the internet.

SalamWeb, a mobile browser, is designed to deliver a Muslim-friendly web experience. The app, which includes messaging, news and other features, is aimed at users in Malaysia and Indonesia, according to Hasni Zarina Mohamed Khan, managing director at Salam Web Technologies MY Sdn.

Her goal is to eventually capture 10 per cent of the 1.8 billion global Muslim population. She pointed to some of challenges facing the web, as the world’s largest technology companies from Google to Facebook Inc. face criticism for doing too little to address harmful content and false information. Human rights group Amnesty International looked at abusive interactions and concluded that Twitter is a “toxic place for women.”

“We want to make the internet a better place,” Hasni Zarina said. “We know the internet has the good and the bad, so SalamWeb offers you a tool to create this window that lets you go to the internet to see the good.”

SalamWeb relies on community-vetted content filters that mark web pages as appropriate, neutral or inappropriate, while warning users when they approach sites with gambling or pornography. It also has Muslim-specific functions, such as prayer times and an indicator for Qibla, or the direction that a Muslim must face when praying.

The products are certified compliant by the independent Amanie Shariah Supervisory Board, and is built on the open-source Chromium software that’s the basis of Google Chrome web browser. Shariah law prohibits activities considered unethical, such as gambling, prostitution and alcohol- and pork-related businesses, as well as interest-based financial products.

“We’re promoting universal values — although SalamWeb is targeted to Muslims, it can be used by anyone,” Hasni Zarina said. “The internet can be a harmful place. It’s obvious that we need an alternative.”

Business Standard

Honor View 20 first impressions: Worthy if launched as midrange smartphone

Unveiled at a global launch in Paris on January 22, the Honor View 20 is set to be launched in India on January 29.

The Honor View 20 is set to become the first smartphone in India to feature a punch-hole screen. Unveiled at a global launch in Paris on January 22, the smartphone is set to be launched in India on January 29. Apart from a punch-hole screen, the phone also boasts a 48-megapixel primary camera, gradient glass design, and an Android Pie-based Magic user interface, which is an improvement to Huawei’s emotion UI (EMUI) seen in previous iterations of Honor devices.

From a premium build to top-tier specifications, the Honor View 20 seems to be a flagship smartphone that would set the benchmark for future Honor-branded smartphones. The phone’s punch-hole is a step forward, compared to notch screens. It accommodates a 25-megapixel front camera for selfies. However, like other notch screen-based smartphones, it also has a visible bezel at the bottom that obstructs its otherwise bezel-less profile.

Honor View 20 On the back, the phone has a glossy glass with gradient design. It shows V-shaped gradient lines that reflect when looked at from angles. Unfortunately, the design is prominent only in the sky blue colour, and not other variants. At a time when in-display fingerprint sensors are becoming mainstream in smartphones, the Honor View 20 has gone with a conventional fingerprint sensor on the back. It obstructs the phone’s unibody design, but its utility makes up for whatever little damage it does to the phone’s overall design language.

The phone has an unconventional dual-camera module at the back with a mammoth 48MP primary lens, paired with a time-of-flight (3D) lens. The camera seems to be of the flagship breed. It also has an artificial intelligence-based automatic scene selection that recognises frame instantly and adjusts settings accurately in most cases. The camera also boasts a dedicated night mode for low-light photography. It lightens the dark scene, but shows loss of details at times.

Overall, the phone seems to be a value-for-money proposition based on Huawei’s premium offerings like the Huawei P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro. Even though the phone lacks some of the premium features like an in-display fingerprint sensor, AMOLED screen, QHD resolution display, monochrome or telephoto lens, etc, it compensates for them in one or the other way. It should be seen as a complete package — if it is launched in the mid-tier range of below Rs 40,000 that is.

Business Standard

Republic Day: 855 police personnel decorated; 149 get gallantry medals

Three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were also decorated posthumously.

A total of 855 police and paramilitary personnel were awarded police medals Friday, including 149 for gallantry in Jammu and Kashmir, Naxal violence-affected areas and others, ahead of the Republic Day.

The CRPF, the country's largest paramilitary force, was decorated with maximum 44awards for bravery followed by Odisha Police at 26 medals, Jammu and Kashmir Police 25 medals and Chhattisgarh 14 medals.

ALSO READ: Delhi cops foil terror attack plot on Republic Day; arrest JeM terrorists

Three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were also decorated posthumously with the top category President's Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG).

Other gallantry medal winners hail from Meghalaya (13), Uttar Pradesh (10), Border Security Force (8), Delhi (4), Jharkhand (3) and one each from the Assam Rifles and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

A Ministry of Home Affairs order said a total of 146 Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG), 74 President's Police Medal for distinguished service and 632 police medal for meritorious service were conferred on the men and the women in khaki from various state police and central police forces and organisations.

Business Standard

Priyanka's resemblance to Indira Gandhi will benefit Congress: Shiv Sena

The BJP's ally also said that comments by ruling party leaders stating Priyanka was formally inducted due to the the Congress president's 'failure' had no substance.

The Shiv Sena Friday said that Priyanka Gandhi will emerge as the "queen" if she plays her cards well and held that with her induction, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has shown he will do whatever it takes to win the upcoming general elections.

The BJP's ally also said that comments by ruling party leaders stating Priyanka was formally inducted due to the the Congress president's "failure" had no substance.

It added that the Congress chief had increased the problems of the government by raising the Rafale fighter jet purchase issue.

Even if Gandhi's attacks on the Modi government over corruption in the Rafale deal are ignored, not giving him credit for the wins of the Congress in three states (in recent Assembly polls) would show a closed mindset, it said.

"In Uttar Pradesh, the SP and BSP tied up not giving space to the Congress. However, Rahul Gandhi, with a lot of patience, kept his cool," it said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamna'.

It said Gandhi played his cards well by announcing that the Congress would fight on all seats in Uttar Pradesh, while helping the SP and BSP wherever possible, and at the same time bringing Priyanka into mainstream politics.

"This will help the Congress. Even the Prime Minister had to speak over this (Priyanka's foray into politics). Even people have accepted a family, why does the stomach of some have to ache?" the editorial asked sarcastically.

It said the BJP harbours ill feelings towards the Nehru-Indira family because the former sees it as formidable competition.

The editorial said the BJP was scared of a stiff challenge to it (from the Congress) as it tries to retain power.

"Priyanka bears an uncanny resemblance to her grandmother Indira Gandhi in looks and manner of speaking.Therefore, the Congress will surely benefit in the Hindi heartland," the Shiv Sena said, lauding her for agreeing to join active politics not worrying about cases against her husband Robert Vadra.

Priyanka, like Indira Gandhi, will emerge as the "queen" if she plays her cards well, the Sena said.

Article Source BS

Emkay Taps & Cutting Tools Half Yearly Results

Company News :

The Company was originally incorporated on July 27 1995 as Emkay Taps and Cutting Tools Private Limited. Subsequently the Company was converted into a Public Limited Company pursuant to Shareholders Resolution passed at the Extra Ordinary General Meeting of Members of the Company held on April 8 2015 and the name of our Company was changed to Emkay Taps and Cutting Tools Limited vide a fresh Certificate of Incorporation dated April 24 2015.

Since 1995 the company is engaged in manufacturing and sale of cutting tools and also power generation through its wind mills in Rajasthan and Karnataka.

In 1996 the company tookover Emkay Tools proprietary concern of Ajayprakash Kanoria HUF.

In 2008 1 unit of Wind Turbine Generator having a capacity of 1.25 MW at Shivapura Kavalu Village Belur Taluka Hassan District in Karnataka was commissioned by the CompanyIn 2009 the company Installed CNC Machines imported from USA and GermanyIn 2010 2 (Two) units of Wind Turbine Generators having a capacity of 1.6 MW (800 KW each) at Kita & Ugawa District Jaisalmer in Rajasthan was commissioned by our Company. Read More

Business Standard

How large-scale activitiy is eroding the ecosystem in central western ghats

Perennial streams were found in regions that have greater than 70% of forest cover, showing the link between ecology and hydrology with land use.

A recent study has found that unplanned developmental activities and haphazard land use are reducing evergreen forest cover and perennial streams in the central region of the Western Ghats.

Indian researchers have mapped how large-scale activities have eroded the ecosystem in central Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot known for its rich ecology, natural forest systems and perennial rivers. The study focussed on the Kali river, which originates in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka and joins the Arabian Sea at Karwar. The river is as old as the Western Ghats, supports 325 species of flora and 190 species of fauna. It also has six major dams.

Using remote sensing data, the researchers found that between 1973 and 2016, forest cover around the river reduced from 85 per cent to 55 per cent. In addition, land use patterns in the region changed substantially between 1980 and 2000 due to developmental projects such as dams built on the Kali, the Kaiga nuclear power plant and the Dandeli paper mill. The paper mill has in fact led to large-scale conversion of forests to crops.

ALSO READ: Listening to nature: How sound can help us understand environmental change

Evergreen forests have also shrunk from 62 per cent to 38.5 per cent during this period, and large water reservoirs have been constructed at the expense of forest cover, the study noted.

The eco-hydrological footprint is a measure of how the ecology of a region responds to changes in the water cycle and water use. This can be measured by assessing the ratio of available water and water lost due to usage and evaporation. Around 2,309 million cubic meters of water are required for people’s needs and livestock in the region. Another 4,700 million cubic meters is required to maintain ecosystems and aquatic life.

An analysis showed that although the Kali river has sufficient water supply and perennial streams in the Ghats and the coastal area, regions that lie in plain lands with higher degree of agriculture and cultivation have an intermittent and seasonal flow that has led to water scarcity for four to nine months in a year.

Perennial streams were found in regions that have greater than 70 per cent of forest cover, showing the link between ecology and hydrology with land use. “Forests with native species of vegetation play a pivotal role in enhancing the water retention capability of the catchment,” T.V. Ramachandra, a scientist at the Indian Institute of Science and a member of the research team, told India Science Wire.

Business Standard

Entry to Sabarimala a big step forward for gender equality? Ask Dalit women

Clearly, the people celebrating this victory at Sabarimala are predominantly dominant caste Hindu women.

Over the past few days, I, as a Dalit woman, have been trying hard to understand the reasons why the entry of two women into the Sabarimala temple was being hailed as a momentous victory for women’s rights in India. I must confess that I attempted in vain to try and see the logic behind this celebration. Finally, the only way I could wrap my head around this was to temporarily stop thinking as a Dalit woman.

I struggled to make this shift in my head. I told myself not to think about ‘intersectionality’. I kept telling myself to analyse this phenomenon in a vacuum (read: without caste). I tried to build a rationale in my head about the need for understanding this only through a ‘gender’ lens. Think as a ‘woman’, not as a Dalit woman, I kept repeating to myself. [I later figured why I could not do this – read on. You will know why.]

What is being celebrated? Who are the folks calling this a big step forward in women’s rights? How does the entry into the Sabarimala temple signal freedom for women?

Clearly, the people celebrating this victory at Sabarimala are predominantly dominant caste Hindu women. No single person is ever representative of the entire community and the same holds true for Dalit women as well. From an anti-caste feminist stand-point, the savarna-led feminist movement’s pressure to see this as a great victory for women – all the while being caste-blind – is reductionist, self-centred and hypocritical. There are three reasons I say so.

Dismantling patriarchy for gender equality?

For a long time, I assumed that the feminist movement in India aimed to puncture patriarchy. This primarily indicates that the path to gender equality meant freedom from male control, which in turn meant applying the brakes on obeisance to men.

For the life of me, I do not understand how ‘patriarchy’ is attacked when women devotees bow down before male priests and a male celibate god? Where in this spectrum lies the end of misogyny? So can somebody please explain to me how and why is the savarna women-led feminist movement in India claiming this to be a historic win for women rights?

Business Standard

Honor 10 Lite review: Not a poser, but a performer in midrange segment

Priced at Rs 13,999 for base model with 4GB RAM, the Honor 10 Lite is primarily a camera phone with strengths across areas. Though its design is inspired from yesteryear phones, it doesn't look dated.

Honor, a smartphone brand owned by Chinese technology giant Huawei, recently launched the Honor 10 Lite. Successor of the Honor 9 Lite, the phone has a dewdrop notch screen, dual rear cameras, and gradient glass like design. Being a midrange smartphone, it is powered by Kirin 710 system-on-chip, and features GPU Turbo technology for improved graphic performance.

The Honor 10 Lite seems to be a power packed proposition in the midrange segment. But how does it fare in real life scenarios? Let’s find out:

Design

The Honor 10 Lite has a glass like design that has been predominant in midrange smartphones. It looks impressive, but not different than most of the midrange devices such as the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 (review). The phone’s back is made of laminated layers of polymer with a glossy finish, which looks like glass and has a gradient design. The gradient design on the back reflects different shades of phone’s colour when looked from angles.

On the front, there is a notch screen of a dewdrop design. Unlike the Oppo’s and Vivo’s iteration of waterdrop notch, which has a subtle V-shaped design, the Honor 10 Lite notch is prominent and has a U-shaped design. Like any other notch-based smartphone, the Honor 10 Lite has a bezel at the bottom that encloses an ambient light and proximity sensors.

Though the phone’s design is impressive, it looks close to yesteryear’s designs that might not please everyone’s taste.

Display

The Honor 10 Lite has a 6.21-inch fullHD+ screen, stretched in tall 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The screen renders sharp and vibrant colours. It also has decent brightness and satisfactory sunlight legibility. However, contrast seems to be out of calibration. The screen does not do well to render blacks properly and the whites look greyish with a blue tint in normal mode.

Camera

The Honor 10 Lite has a dual rear camera and a single front camera. The rear camera module shares a combination of 13-megapixel primary sensor of f/1.8 aperture and a 2MP depth sensor. The front camera has a 24MP sensor of f/2.0 aperture.

Both the camera modules feature artificial intelligence-based automatic scene recognition that adjusts camera settings automatically, based on the scene in the frame. While the front camera is capable of recognising up to eight different scenes, the rear camera module can detect from up to 22 scenes. The front camera also features AI-based facial recognition and light fusion technology for improved selfies.

Article Source BS

How the Congress party plans to counter smear campaign against Rahul Gandhi

The party now plans to launch a page on FAQs, or frequently asked questions, section to "bust myths" and rumours surrounding their party chief.

Was Rahul Gandhi detained in Boston with drugs? Did he actually speak about a machine that would turn potatoes into gold or a potato-manufacturing factory?

Why did he claim that connecting MRI machines would improve healthcare in India? Why did his “woke up this morning, last night” go viral? The biggest question of them all: What is the truth about the Sukanya rape case?

For far too long, not only his political rivals, but some within the Congress as well, have lampooned Congress president Rahul Gandhi as a ‘pappu’, or someone who does not have his wits about.

ALSO READ: India witnessing over four years of intolerance, says Rahul Gandhi in UAE

Gandhi has also faced a subversive campaign that authorities in Boston had detained him with psychotropic substances and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government bailed him out, or about him having allegedly raped a woman. The smear campaign has had little factual basis, but the Congress party has never launched a concerted campaign to counter this sustained rumour mongering.

However, much is changing within the Congress. The party now plans to launch a page on FAQs, or frequently asked questions, section to "bust myths" and rumours surrounding their party chief. The page, ‘Myth Buster’, is part of an already existing website dedicated to their party chief – rahulgandhi.in.

The page has been in the works for some months now, but there were those in the party who wanted to be cautious before putting it in the public domain. It has had its soft launch in the past, but was withdrawn. The Congress’s improved electoral performances in the recent past has enthused the party, and the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls have made it feel the need to burnish Gandhi’s credentials.

As recent Assembly polls showed, public perception about Gandhi has changed significantly in the past 18-months, at least since the Gujarat Assembly polls.

People in small towns and villages have come to believe he is committed about flagging their issues, whether on lack of jobs or agrarian distress.

However, the Congress party has realised its challenge is to dispel the misgivings that educated youth, particularly those below 30-years-old, harbour against the Congress chief, particularly in the Hindi heartland, because of years of ridicule and subterranean campaign by his political rivals, and helped in some measure by people within his own party.

Business Standard

Paytm may enter two more developed markets in 2019, says CFO in Davos

Paytm has already found its footing in Canada and Japan, and several commerce and financial services verticals of the company have begun to churn out revenue and profits.

Digital payments company Paytm is considering foraying into 1-2 more developed markets in 2019, Chief Financial Officer Madhur Deora said on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Paytm has already found its footing in Canada and Japan, and several commerce and financial services verticals of the company have begun to churn out revenue and profits, Deora told the Reuters Global Markets Forum.

"We have found the developed markets to be very interesting," Deora said.

While the company can't commit to a definite launch in other markets, it is working on building a scalable business, he added.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a 25 billion rupees ($356 million) stake in Paytm's parent company One97 in August last year.

Paytm, founded in 2010, which counts China's Alibaba Group and its financial services arm Ant Financial Services Group among investors, faces intense competition from other players such as Google Pay and state-backed Unified Payment Interface (UPI).

Business Standard

RIL's plan to strengthen balance sheet hinges on telecom, e-commerce plans

However, the company's balance sheet will be stronger in a year, Srikanth said, as its investment goes down and it transfers its fiber and tower undertakings to separate companies.

Reliance Industries Ltd.’s plan to strengthen its balance sheet will hinge on future capital spending as credit market participants zero in on whether the company will be able to slow those outlays over the next year.

The conglomerate has invested about $64 billion across telecom and retail as well as petrochemicals and oil refining expansions, Joint CFO V. Srikanth said during last week’s earnings briefing.

Reliance will probably continue to spend to build capacities in its telecom business as well as on its e-commerce and broadband operations, according to Nitin Tiwari, an analyst with Antique Stock Broking Ltd.

While petrochemicals has been a key driver for the group’s earnings, contributing about half of total operating profit, shrinking profits from converting dirty residual oil into cleaner light fuel pose a headache.

However, the company’s balance sheet will be stronger in a year, Srikanth said, as its investment goes down and it transfers its fiber and tower undertakings to separate companies.

ALSO READ: Reliance's e-commerce entry to reduce digital colonisation: Mohandas Pai

Spending on telecom unit Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. and rising debt have been “a key worry, and monetization of tower/fiber could allay this,” wrote Mumbai-based Anil Sharma and Ravi Adukia, analysts at Nomura Holdings Inc.

Business Standard

Piyush Goyal back as interim Finance Minister, to present interim Budget

Arun Jaitley undergoes surgery in the US, advised two weeks' rest.

With eight days to go before the Narendra Modi government presents its interim Budget on February 1, the Prime Minister on Wednesday entrusted Railway Minister Piyush Goyal with ministerial portfolios of finance and corporate affairs till Arun Jaitley comes back from the US.

Arun Jaitley underwent a surgery in the US on Tuesday. With doctors having advised him two weeks’ rest, Goyal is set to present the interim Budget — the final Budget of the Modi-led government’s current tenure, which comes less than 90 days before the Lok Sabha polls and could contain key announcements.

According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique, issued at 8.55 pm, the President, as advised by the PM, directed that during the period of Jaitley's indisposition, the finance and corporate affairs portfolios, held by him, be temporarily assigned to Goyal. It said Goyal would continue to hold his existing portfolios: Railways and coal.

The communique stated that Jaitley “be designated as minister without portfolio during the period of his indisposition or till such time he is able to resume his work as minister of finance and minister of corporate affairs.”

According to a PTI report quoting sources, Jaitley underwent surgery at a hospital in New York on Tuesday. He has been advised at least two weeks’ rest by doctors, they added. Sources in the government said the PM took the decision to give the additional charge of finance ministry to Goyal after consultations with Jaitley.

This is the second instance in eight months when Goyal will be stepping in for Jaitley in the North Block-located finance ministry. Jaitley, 66, underwent a successful kidney transplant at New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on May 14, 2018. He had been on leave since early April due to kidney-related problems and chest infection, and took charge of finance and corporate affairs ministries on August 23.

Goyal held temporary charge of the two ministries for 100 days in the interregnum, while Jaitley was a minister without a portfolio between May 14, 2018, and August 23, 2018.

Business Standard

Priyanka takes up Congress role in UP after over a decade behind the scenes

The 47-yr-old to take over as gen secy for eastern UP; may contest from Rae Bareli.

With the general elections less than 90 days away, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday appointed his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, which constitutes roughly 40 Lok Sabha seats, including their family bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Varanasi constituency.

Priyanka, who turned 47 earlier this month, has been an important, behind-the-scenes figure in the party’s decision-making processes for over a decade, but Wednesday’s announcement marks her official political debut. With UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi having already indicated her desire to retire from electoral politics, the move could pave the way for Priyanka’s entry into the electoral arena and she could contest from Rae Bareli, the seat currently represented by her mother, party sources said.

Her appointment, however, opened the Congress to renewed attacks from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over “dynastic politics” and "lack of inner-democracy".

BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra said the Congress had admitted to Rahul Gandhi having “failed” in providing leadership.

(Business Standard)

The Congress's allies, including Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, welcomed the news, though. Congress strategists believe Priyanka's charisma would help the party perform better in key states of UP and Bihar in the Lok Sabha polls. The appointment has ramifications, at least in UP, not just for the principal rival BJP, but also the frenemies Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP).

Speaking to reporters in Amethi, the Congress president indicated his party would be willing to renegotiate its electoral understanding in UP with the SP and the BSP. Earlier this month, the two parties had announced their alliance in UP for the Lok Sabha polls, keeping the Congress out of it but also promising that they would not field any candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli. The three parties are looking at what within the Congress is called the 'Jangipur model', where the Congress might put up strong fights in 15-20 seats in the state and help the SP and the BSP by eating into the BJP's upper caste votes in the rest. In bargain, the SP and the BSP would field weak candidates in the Congress strongholds.

For the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, nearly all hands are now on deck for the Lok Sabha polls. While their first cousin Varun Gandhi is currently a BJP Lok Sabha member from Sultanpur in UP, it is little secret that he is out of favour in the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah dispensation and there is speculation of his joining the Congress.

Many within the Congress view Priyanka's appointment as the dynasty sounding the war bugle against Modi and the Shah-led BJP. Some said the move was also the party's last throw of the dice to win over the electorate in not just UP, but also northern Bihar.

The loss of party's influence in UP and Bihar post-1989 has meant the Congress never winning a majority in the Lok Sabha in the last 30 years.