India valuable partner for us, want to work with new government: UN Chief

Prime Minister Modi was on Thursday administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony just before sunset at the forecourt of majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that India is a "very valuable partner" of the United Nations and he looks forward to working with the new government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Modi was on Thursday administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony just before sunset at the forecourt of majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan, capping a landslide win for the BJP which won 303 of the 542 seats.

UN Secretary-General Guterres has worked very closely with Prime Minister Modi, including on the issue of climate change, Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told PTI on Thursday.

"We will look forward to working with the government as it has now taken office. India is a very valuable partner of the United Nations," Haq said at the daily press briefing on Guterres' message for Modi as he was sworn-in as India's Prime Minister for a second five-year term.

Last week, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the UN chief very much looked forward to working with Modi and the two leaders have a "strong relationship" on issues such as the climate change.

Monica Grayley, the spokeswoman for President of the General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa, said last week that the UNGA President congratulates India and the people of India, as well as all newly-elected representatives in the election.

Espinosa "looks forward to continuing to work with India in the months to come," Grayley said.

Espinosa had met Modi during her visit to India in August 2018 and her interaction and cooperation with India is a "very good one," Grayley had said, adding that Espinosa, if given the opportunity, would definitely congratulate the Prime Minister in person.

Business Standard

HSBC plans to axe hundreds of investment bank jobs to help cut cost

Cull of more than 500 jobs could begin in weeks, people say.

HSBC Holdings Plc is considering eliminating hundreds of investment banking jobs as Chief Executive Officer John Flint pressures the lender’s top managers to cut costs, according to people familiar with the plan.

At least 500 jobs could go within global banking and markets, although formal numbers have not been communicated, said the people who asked not to be named. Greg Guyett, who recently took sole control of global banking, will be pushing through cuts in his part of the business, one person said.

The reductions are expected to begin at the unit as soon as mid-June and will take place over the year, the people said. They are part of wider job reductions across the lender, and mark the latest stage of HSBC’s “Project Oak” revamp.

“Business and function lines constantly re-evaluate their needs to ensure they have the right roles in the right locations,” HSBC said in a statement.

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Shares in the bank jumped to an intraday high after the news and were trading down 0.1% at 2:10 p.m. in London.

Flint has made “positive jaws” -- banking jargon for keeping the top line growing faster than expenses -- a key focus as he seeks to put his stamp on the bank, which makes the bulk of its revenue in Asia. The CEO berated his most senior managers in March for missing cost targets, people with knowledge of the matter have said.

The unit known as GBM houses the lender’s corporate finance and trading operations, employing about 24,000 of the division’s total workforce of 48,500 which includes contractors and other support staff.

Project Oak

Project Oak’s job reductions should help the company’s goal of achieving positive jaws, as the cost incurred can be accounted for as a one-off item rather than counting toward HSBC’s overall cost base, one of the people said. That’s a deliberate strategy to encourage aggressive reductions, as managers may have resisted making necessary cuts in the past to avoid the hit to their own budgets from costs such as severance payments, the person said.

HSBC missed a full-year target to achieve an increase in revenues that outpaced the increase in costs. That stepped up the pressure on Flint, who attacked “incompetence” at a Hong Kong event in March attended by about 400 managers, people with knowledge of the event said earlier this year. The bank met its positive jaws target in first-quarter numbers published this month.

Tax saving tips: Invest in real estate and save tax on LTCG

Taxpayers can save the taxes on the gains by availing the benefit of tax exemptions allowed under the Indian tax laws.

Investments in real estate are borne out of savings made out several years of earnings. These investments have both monetary value and emotional value for investors. 

Individuals buy and sell real estate to reinvest in upcoming real estate projects, to meet growing family needs, to move to another location of choice etc. Since real estate investment involves a large amount of money, the sale of property results in large gains. Tax may have to be paid on these gains unless they have been invested. Let’s find out how to save tax on sale of a property.

Taxpayers can save the taxes on the gains by availing the benefit of tax exemptions allowed under the Indian tax laws. The law allows a taxpayer to invest in real estate and avail the benefit of exemptions on taxable gains realised on the sale of assets or real estate.

A.Tax saving exemptions:

I.Investment in real estate upon exit from a real estate property

Individuals who have earned gains upon exit of a residential house and wish to reinvest in another residential house can avail of an exemption from taxation of the capital gains.

For example:

Mr A sells his residential house on 5th April 2018 for Rs 50,00,000. Mr A had bought the house for Rs 20,00,000 on 25th March 2013. With the proceeds of the house, Mr A purchases a new residential house for Rs 60,00,000.

To claim this exemption the property which is sold should have held by a taxpayer for more than 2 years.

The above exemption is now extended w.e.f 1 April 2019 to investment in 2 residential properties (once in a lifetime benefit), the one condition being that the gains are not above 2 crore rupees.

II.Investment in real estate upon the sale of any other asset

Individuals who have earned gains upon sale of any other asset and desire to invest in a residential house can avail an exemption from taxation of the capital gains. Other assets would include land, gold etc.

Business Standard

In a first, an AI taught itself to play a video game, and is beating humans

In a new study, researchers detailed a way to train AI algorithms to reach human levels of performance in a popular 3D multiplayer game - a modified version of Quake III Arena in Capture the Flag mode.

Business Standard : Since the earliest days of virtual chess and solitaire, video games have been a playing field for developing artificial intelligence (AI). Each victory of machine against human has helped make algorithms smarter and more efficient. But in order to tackle real world problems – such as automating complex tasks including driving and negotiation – these algorithms must navigate more complex environments than board games, and learn teamwork. Teaching AI how to work and interact with other players to succeed had been an insurmountable task – until now.

In a new study, researchers detailed a way to train AI algorithms to reach human levels of performance in a popular 3D multiplayer game – a modified version of Quake III Arena in Capture the Flag mode.

Even though the task of this game is straightforward – two opposing teams compete to capture each other’s flags by navigating a map – winning demands complex decision-making and an ability to predict and respond to the actions of other players.

This is the first time an AI has attained human-like skills in a first-person video game. So how did the researchers do it?

The robot learning curve

In 2019, several milestones in AI research have been reached in other multiplayer strategy games. Five “bots” – players controlled by an AI – defeated a professional e-sports team in a game of DOTA 2. Professional human players were also beaten by an AI in a game of StarCraft II. In all cases, a form of reinforcement learning was applied, whereby the algorithm learns by trial and error and by interacting with its environment.

The five bots that beat humans at DOTA 2 didn’t learn from humans playing – they were trained exclusively by playing matches against clones of themselves. The improvement that allowed them to defeat professional players came from scaling existing algorithms. Due to the computer’s speed, the AI could play in a few seconds a game that takes minutes or even hours for humans to play. This allowed the researchers to train their AI with 45,000 years of gameplay within ten months of real-time.

The Capture the Flag bot from the recent study also began learning from scratch. But instead of playing against its identical clone, a cohort of 30 bots was created and trained in parallel with their own internal reward signal.

Flipkart puts focus back on private labels, launches in-house sports brand

Adrenex will have sports gear, gym accessories and fitness products.

Flipkart on Wednesday announced the launch of a new private-label brand Adrenex, adding to its growing portfolio of in-house brands in electronics, fashion and furniture, as the Walmart-owned ecommerce major targets higher margins and differentiated product offerings to take on rivals.

Keep Reading : Business Standard

A private label is a brand which is designed, produced and marketed in-house.

Under Adrenex, which is a sports and fitness brand, Flipkart is selling cricket and tennis gear like rackets and bats, footballs, volleyballs, and gym accessories like yoga mats, waters zippers, clinchers and dumbbells, among other things. Treadmills, cycles and a range of home gym equipment will be added later. The brand has over 220 products currently.

According to Flipkart, the sports good industry currently stands at $3.3 billion and is seen growing to $5.6 billion, in market size, by 2023. The company said, it had launched a small set of products under Adrenex during the Big Billion Days sale event in October 2018, and the brand has grown three-times since then.

“The aim of Flipkart’s Private Brands has always been to solve for our customers’ unique needs across categories, by providing them with the best quality at affordable prices,” said Adarsh Menon, a vice president at Flipkart, who heads private-labels, electronics and furniture verticals.

“By launching Adrenex, we are looking to better serve Indians who are becoming increasingly health and fitness conscious, but may not have access to good quality equipment. Going forward, we will be adding more products to our catalogue, with the goal of serving every sports and fitness need that a customer might have,” said Menon, a sales veteran who served at Hindustan Unilever for 11 years before joining Flipkart in 2015.

Adrenex is the latest addition to Flipkart growing list of private labels. Flipkart got onto the private label bandwagon in 2017 with the launch of MarQ (large appliances), Smart Buy (consumer electronics) and Billion, a brand for smartphones and the pet project of now-departed co-founder Sachin Bansal. While Billion was repositioned to focus on personal care and home utilities, the company launched several new brands in 2018, namely, Perfect Homes (furniture), Cara Mia and Ann Springs (women fashion and accessories), and Miss & Chef (kids clothing and toys).

Drinking, bathing becomes luxury in Chennai as water crisis grips city

A deficit rainfall during the 2017 and failed monsoon in 2018 has resulted in depletion of ground water and near drying up of major waterbodies, and has pushed residents at the mercy of water-tankers.

A row of vessels line a street corner where a water-tanker is parked; a gaggle of women quibble as they await their turn to get the pots filled-- this has become a daily affair in several parts of Chennai with the city staring at an acute water crisis.

Many denizens have even started considering daily bath a luxury and finding adequate water for doing laundry and dishwashing has become a nightmare.

A central Chennai resident Kumar B Das said he is spending around Rs 2,500 on water tankers per month, apart from the money that goes for purchasing bottled drinking water.

"I have started reusing utensils by wiping them with a cloth or tissue after first use. That saves much water. Body sprays have become dear to me," the IT professional said.

Raveendranath, a member of a residential association said they had to depend on private tankers for supply as the government metro water tankers take 2 to 3 weeks to turn up.

Private operators have hiked the rates and are demanding Rs 3,000 to 5,000 per truck load of water, he claimed.

A deficit rainfall during the 2017 northeast monsoon and failed monsoon in 2018 has resulted in depletion of ground water and near drying up of major waterbodies, and has pushed residents at the mercy of water-tanker operators.

Amid the shortage, Chief Minister K Palaniswami, his deputy O Panneerselvam, ministers and officials took part in a meeting to review water supply Wednesday.

Officials, however, declined to divulge what transpired at the meeting.

Residents and activists allege that the efforts of the state government in water conservation have proven to be a damp squib.

A senior official in Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) that supplies water to the city told PTI that compared to other metropolitan cities Chennai is in a disadvantaged location because of lack of any perennial rivers.

"We are doing our best and focusing on water distribution, supply and finding alternative sources to meet the growing demand of Chennai.

Plan to set up two desalination plants-capacity of 150 million litres of water per day (mld) and 400 mld - is in the pipeline," the official said.

Business Standard

On child wellbeing index, India only ahead of Pakistan among neighbours

India also improved its rank from 116 of 172 countries in 2018 to 113 of 176 countries this year.

India ranks 113 of 176 countries on an index that evaluates countries on the wellbeing of children. The End of Childhood Index is part of the Global Childhood Report released on May 28, 2019, by Save the Children, a nonprofit that works for child rights.

The index evaluates countries on eight indicators to determine the wellbeing of children and teenagers (0-19 years): mortality among children under five years of age, malnutrition that stunts growth, lack of education, child labour, early marriage, adolescent births, displacement by conflict and child homicide. A final score out of 1,000 is derived, and countries are ranked accordingly.

Between 2000 and 2019, India’s score rose from 632 to 769. India also improved its rank from 116 of 172 countries in 2018 to, as we said, 113 of 176 countries this year.

In the year 2000, an estimated 970 million children around the world were deprived of their childhood because of these causes. By 2019, that number fell 29% to 690 million.

An increase in public investments, and intervention through programmes targeted at marginalised children to ensure universal healthcare and education are needed to help improve the wellbeing of children, the report suggests.

A minimum financial security for all children through child-sensitive social protection needs to be on governments’ agenda, the report says, adding that adopting a national action plan to reduce and eliminate child poverty, together with dedicated budgets and monitoring systems that track improvements in poverty-related deprivations, will help achieve better childhood outcomes.

Infectious diseases cause most deaths of Indian children under five

India has reduced its child mortality rate by 55% in the last two decades, from 88 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000 to 39 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2017, according to data from this 2018 report. Yet, it lags the Millennium Development Goal of 25 or fewer deaths per 1,000 live births.

These deaths are mostly attributed to preventable infectious diseases, followed by injuries, meningitis, measles and malaria.

Among neighbouring countries, India’s performance on under-five mortality was better only than that of Pakistan (74.9). Sri Lanka (8.8), China (9.3), Bhutan (30.8), Nepal (33.7) and Bangladesh (32.4) have all outperformed India.

Business Standard

Job woes to remain if manufacturing doesn't pick up: Kotak Securities

The merger of SBI with associates had resulted in restructuring of the workforce.

Business Standard : Growth momentum in India may turn out to be a “jobless growth scenario” in the next 3 years, if the manufacturing sector fails to pick up, said brokerage house Kotak Securities.

According to Kamlesh Rao, MD and CEO of the firm, job op­portunities in the services se­c­tor — a key contributor of em­p­loyment — are expected to re­d­uce in the current economic scenario. “The services sector, which fuels job growth, will definitely go down. And so, the manufacturing sector is needed which can create job opportunities”, he said. He was res­p­o­nding to questions asked over merger of public sector banks, and other such proposals.

The merger of SBI with associates had resulted in restructuring of the workforce, but such fears have been allayed among other public sector firms in banking and insurance sector. In a reply to Lok Sabha last December, Pon Radhakrish­nan, Minister of State for Finance, had said the services sector had contributed 53.9 per cent to the country’s gross value added at current prices, during FY18.

The manufacturing sector, on the other hand, accounted for 16.7 per cent of the GVA.

ALSO READ: Modi govt needs to review manufacturing, private sector investment

The brokerage firm said the government needs to attract foreign direct investment in manufacturing to make India a global hub, and that the move may entail improvement in ease of doing business along with land and labour laws in the country.

“The trade war between the US and China presents India with a huge opportunity to develop its manufacturing vertical. The global situation might bring the markets down, but it’s an opportunity at the same time,” he said.

Rao feels the government needs to act on reforms in the next two fiscal quarters to keep growth momentum in the country, as well as the bourses, going.

He opined that the IBC resolution process needs to be fastened and steps needs to be taken to solve the liquidity situation of non-banking financial companies. Increase in financialisation and conversion of savings into investments have also been suggested by Kotak Securities.

Devendra Fadnavis' drought-free Maharashtra plan by 2019 comes a cropper

Second part of the series maps how over 40% talukas in the state still face water crisis.

In April 2016, Maharashtra operated the water train to supply drinking water to drought-affected Latur.

In the same year, the state embarked on its Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan to become drought free by 2019. Despite the ambitious plan, 40 per cent of the state is reeling from drought and its water tanker economy is booming. Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan aimed at making Maharashtra a drought-free state by deepening and widening streams as well as constructing cement and earthen stop dams, nullahs and digging farm ponds.

But, as of February 2019, the state government declared drought in 151 of the 358 talukas. In these talukas, 28,524 villages have been declared drought affected. Of this, 112 are severe drought hit. While activists say that the Jalyukt scheme has failed after a spectacular start, government officials defend their work, claiming the last monsoon rainfall was at a historical low. According to Central Water Commission (CWC) data, reservoir storage during the current year has been less than the storage last year for the western region, which includes the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. “It is also less than the average storage in the last 10 years of the corresponding period,” the commission’s report suggested. Of the 19 reservoirs that the CWC monitors in Maharashtra, five were recorded as completely dry on May 23. Between FY17 and FY20, the state budget allocated Rs 5,200 crore towards the Abhiyan. Eknath Dawale, secretary, water conservation and employment guarantee scheme (EGS), said the total expenditure for the scheme from various sources stands at Rs 8,000 crore.

ALSO READ: Deficient pre-monsoon rains put almost half of India on drought alert

Despite the allocation, 40 per cent of the state is now struggling to get access to water for basic needs. The shortage has brought to fore the conflicts yet again. Earlier this month, the local media reported that a first information report (FIR) was filed for water theft from a residential over-head tank in Maharashtra’s Manmad district.

“The scheme started on a good note. Had they (officials) maintained the momentum, it would have worked. However, what started as a community work-driven scheme, got converted into a contractor-driven one, and the decline started,” said Rajendra Singh, water conservationist who is also known as waterman.

Business Standard

Jaguar, where'd that extra $1 billion come from amid big yearly losses?

With a jump in cash flow that big, it's worth asking how Jaguar pulled it off - particularly given its checkered performance in China.

Cash is fungible. So if a company suddenly has $1 billion more of it, does it matter where it comes from? For Jaguar Land Rover, it should.

Keep Reading : Business Standard

In its latest results, the iconic UK car company, owned by Tata Motors Ltd., posted around 1.4 billion pounds of free cash flow ($1.77 billion). That's a sharp turnaround from a running cash-burn rate of more than 500 million pounds per quarter over the last two years, and around negative 2.7 billion pounds over the last nine months alone. The company attributed the sharp rise to its efforts to manage working capital, including inventory reductions.

Meanwhile, Jaguar’s other numbers looked dismal – profits were down and debt was up from a year earlier. Free cash flow was “the only positive in these results,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts wrote in a note.

With a jump in cash flow that big, it’s worth asking how Jaguar pulled it off – particularly given its checkered performance in China.

Over the years, the company pushed a large volume of cars into the mainland market, offering some models at steep discounts. That ended up clogging inventory channels and burdening dealers. Around 70% of them lost money in the third quarter. Roughly 40% of the company’s dealers were based in tier 3 to tier 5 cities, and have been operating for less than three years: It takes a good deal more than an inexperienced staff to sell luxury cars in China’s poorest cities.

Jaguar has also spent aggressively on research and development and capital expenditure, with investment outlays comprising almost a fifth of total revenue. The company’s burden ticked up in tandem – to 4.5 billion pounds over the past year – and its leverage ratio rose to 2.3 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization from 1.3 times at the end of last year.

To shore up the quarters of cash burn, Jaguar reduced spending and made around 100 million pounds in profit in the fourth quarter. Part of it was seasonal, too. But another maneuver also helped the company manage its working capital.

The company expanded a so-called factoring facility(3) – a working-capital loan – to $700 million from $295 million. For this to work, a company sells its receivables at a discount to raise money. When the dealer pays the company back, it can then repay its lenders. There’s a steep cost associated with this, of course.

ICC CWC 19: A hopeful Kohli downplays top-order rout ahead of WC campaign

The top-order failed to fire in both the warm-up games with most experts suggesting that the batsmen are struggling to adapt to the English conditions.

Business Standard : "I am glad with what we got out of these two games," said Virat Kohli after the second warm-up match against Bangladesh which his side won comfortably by 95 runs.

But was it really the case?

In the first practice match, the famed Indian batting line-up struggled before the pace and swing of New Zealand bowlers, especially Trent Boult who wreaked havoc and picked up four wickets on May 25 in challenging batting conditions at Southampton. Apart from Ravindra Jadeja, none of the Indian batsmen managed to stay for long at the crease and as a result the Men in Blue were bundled out for mere 179 inside 40 overs which the Black Caps chased down without any hiccups.

In the second match as well, the Indian top-order failed to perform as per expectations and didn't seem to be in total control of their game. It was only K.L. Rahul and M.S. Dhoni, who managed to make the most of their batting as they scored brilliant hundreds to help India post a mammoth 360-run target, which it successfully defended against Bangladesh.

ICC World Cup 2019

Keeping aside those two knocks and the quickfire 46-ball 47 from Virat Kohli, it was again a case of conditions making the batsmen sweat.

ODI vice captain Rohit Sharma, who had scored just two runs against the Kiwis, managed 19 against the Bangladesh. He was seen struggling before the pace and swing of Boult, as well as that of Mustafizur Rahman.

Same was the case with Shikhar Dhawan who managed scores of 2 and 1 in both the warm-up matches. The much spoken about Vijay Shankar also managed just 2 on Tuesday as the Indian scoreboard read a scary 102/4 at one stage. But the 164-run partnership between Rahul (108) and Dhoni ensured that another embarrassing collapse was avoided.

However, Kohli doesn't appear much bothered by the form of his 'star openers'. "Shikhar and Rohit are quality players. They become stars in ICC events. I understand if guys don't get going rightaway in this format, but I am glad with what we got out of these two games," the skipper said on Tuesday.

When it comes to bowling, the Indian bowlers didn't have much to defend against the Black Caps. But still, they put up a good show, especially Jasprit Bumrah who was magnificent with his line and length. He bowled at a brisk pace and returned with figures of 2/4 from the four overs he bowled.

SSC MTS exam 2019: Hurry, last day to apply today; all you need to know

SSC MTS exam 2019: May 29 is the last day for candidates to apply for SSC MTS Recruitment 2019. Know important dates, eligibility crisis, SSC recruitment selection process.

SSC MTS exam 2019: Today is the last day of Staff Selection Commission (SSC) accepting applications for SSC MTS or Multi-Tasking (Non-Technical) Staffing 2019 recruitment drive. Candidates who are interested in appearing for the recruitment process but have not applied yet are advised to do without any delay at ssc.nic.in. SSC has been accepting applications for SSC MTS Recruitment 2019 since April 22.

How to apply for SSC 2019 MTS recruitment:

— Visit the SSC official website.

— Users have to register first at the SSC website, which can be done by clicking on ‘New User ? Register Now’ button in the — Login section of the home page.

— Once registered, click on ‘Apply’ button on the home page.

— Click on ‘Others’ tab and click on ‘Apply’ link against the MTS.

— Go through the application process and pay the requisite application fees.

— Once submitted, take a print out of the application for future reference.

Payment method for SSC MTS Recruitment

Offline: Candidates opting for Offline payment mode will have to pay their Application Fees through state Bank of India Challan generated online. The requisite Application Fees is Rs 100. The Female Candidates and reserved category candidates are exempted from payment of fees.

Online Payment: Candidates can pay their Application Fees online through SBI net banking/credit/debit card. The Application Fees is Rs 100. The SC/ST/Female/PH Category aspirants are exempted from payment of their Application Fees.

SSC MTS Exam 2019 Selection Process:

The written examination will consist of (Paper-I) objective type paper and (PaperII) descriptive type.Paper-I will consist of Objective Type- Multiple choice questions only. The questions will be set both in English and Hindi.

Paper-II will be descriptive in which the candidate will be required to write short essay/letter in English or any language included in the 8th schedule of the Constitution (Paper-II will only be of qualifying nature).

Business Standard

Modi win kickstarts rupee bond sales as borrowing costs decline to year low

Billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla's Grasim Industries Ltd. and UltraTech Cement Ltd plan to raise a combined Rs 7.5 billion ($108 million) selling five-year bonds.

After a dull start to the quarter, rupee bond sales by Indian companies are set to revive as borrowing costs have declined to the lowest in a year following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landslide election victory.

State-owned NLC India Ltd. priced Rs 14.75 billion of debt Monday -- its first issuance in a decade -- as average yield for 10-year AAA paper fell to 8.31%, the cheapest since last May.

“Yields have come down and corporates waiting to refinance will borrow,” said Sandeep Bagla, associate director at Trust Group in Mumbai. “Issuance will pick up pace as clarity on the regime improves business sentiment.”

JSW Steel Ltd., the nation’s second-biggest producer, plans to raise Rs 70 billion via bonds and State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, is considering raising as much as Rs 50 billion through notes on Wednesday, according to exchange filings.

Local-currency issuance in the three-month period that began April 1 is about Rs 700 billion, or 25% of the total raised in the March quarter, as companies held off fundraising during the six-week election process that ended May 19.

Corporate bond sales in the year to March 2020 may be between Rs 6.75 trillion to Rs 7 trillion, up from Rs 6.5 trillion a year earlier, according to Care Ratings.

The potential for reforms after Modi’s comprehensive victory is likely to improve the flow of foreign capital to corporates, according to S&P Global Ratings.

That’s good news for India’s credit markets, which have suffered from a crisis of confidence after shock defaults since last year by Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd. and a string of downgrades at mortgage lender Dewan Housing Finance Corp and Reliance Capital Ltd.

Business Standard

India 43rd most competitive economy, Singapore tops the list: Report

Singapore has moved up to the top, from the third position last year, while the US has slipped to the third place in the 2019 edition of the IMD World Competitiveness Rankings.

India has moved up one place to rank 43rd most competitive economy in the world on the back of its robust economic growth, a large labour force and its huge market size, while Singapore has toppled the US to grab the top position, a global study showed.

Singapore has moved up to the top, from the third position last year, while the US has slipped to the third place in the 2019 edition of the IMD World Competitiveness Rankings. Hong Kong SAR has held onto its second place, helped by a benign tax and business policy environment and access to business finance.

Economists regard competitiveness as vital for the long-term health of a country's economy as it empowers businesses to achieve sustainable growth, generates jobs and, ultimately, enhance the welfare of citizens.

The IMD World Competitiveness Rankings, established in 1989, incorporate 235 indicators from each of the 63 ranked economies to evaluate their ability to foster an environment where enterprises can achieve sustainable growth, generate jobs and increase welfare for its citizens.

The IMD Business School said it takes into account a wide range of statistics such as unemployment, GDP and government spending on health and education, as well as data from an executive opinion survey covering topics such as social cohesion, globalisation and corruption.

The study said the Asia-Pacific region has emerged as a global beacon with 11 out of 14 economies either improving or holding their ground.

India's ranking has improved by one place in past one year to 43rd, driven by a robust rate of growth in real GDP, improvements in business legislation and an increase in public expenditure on education.

Business Standard

Healthier air quality in car-free stretch of Karol Bagh: CSE study

The street has been marked with yellow and white stripes demarcating space for hawkers.

Business Standard : A localised study conducted on a car-free stretch of the Ajmal Khan Road in the bustling Karol Bagh market has shown a considerable improvement in air quality.

The Centre for Science and Environment's Anumita Roychowdhury, who conducted the study, said she compared air quality data collected from the traffic-choked Arya Samaj Road, which cuts through the Ajmal Khan Road, with that from the recently pedestrianised 600-metre stretch.

"We monitored roadside exposure to air pollution, which is different from ambient air quality, on the Arya Samaj Road during heavy traffic. We then moved to the car-free zone of the Ajmal Khan Road and collected the data," she said.

Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at CSE, found that while the average "PM2.5 concentration on the Arya Samaj Road is 63.6 micrograms per cubic metre, it is 47.7 micrograms per cubic metre on the Ajmal Khan Road".

The short-term spike of PM2.5 on the Arya Samaj Road could hit 105.4 micrograms per cum 42.8 per cent higher than the highest short-term spike in the pedestrian area, she said.

Not only this, the pedestrian traffic on the road has increased significantly. The number of pedestrians per five minutes on the Ajmal Khan Road was 2.7 times the number on the Arya Samaj Road, she said.

Buoyed by the response from people, the the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) , which carried out the pilot project on decongestion in Karol Bagh, now plans to expand the scheme to other areas to promote use of public transport and make market areas more pedestrian-friendly.

"After seeing the response at Karol Bagh, we are now planning to do similar projects in Kirti Nagar and Kamla Nagar market areas. World over, from London to Shanghai, pedestrianisation of market areas have enhanced shoppers' experience, and we also want people of Delhi to feel that comfort," NDMC Commissioner Varsha Joshi had told PTI earlier.

The street has been marked with yellow and white stripes demarcating space for hawkers. Besides, bollards have been put at the entry points of Ajmal Khan Road on Pusa Road and Arya Samaj Road to restrict entry of vehicles to the road.