Business Standard Podcast

Byju’s has been in the news for a while now. Its co-founder and CEO Byju Raveendran is busy fighting battles on several fronts -- from trying to come out with its financial statement on time to winning the faith of investors and employees. The leadership claims it has understood its mistakes and is rectifying them. But is Byju’s really ready to turn a new leaf?  Clearly it will be a while before Byju’s comes out from this stormy weather. If it does at all. Meanwhile, the hills of our country too are reeling under rough weather. Rains have triggered landslides, and several parts are cut off -- leaving hundreds of tourists stranded. Over the years, monsoon tourism has gained popularity in the country. But concerns are also being raised about its impact on the fragile ecosystems of Indian hills. So is monsoon tourism bad for the country’s hills?  Meanwhile, Indian equities are on cloud nine. The benchmark indices closed the first half of CY23 at record high levels. However, as we enter the second half of the year, the risks, too, are piling up. Here's a low down of factors which may dent the market sentiment. After the markets, let us turn our gaze to the corridors of politics. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently made a pitch for the Uniform Civil Code, just a week after 22nd Law Commission invited the views of the public and religious organisations on it. But ever wondered what is Uniform Civil Code? Listen to this episode of the podcast for more. 

The Ministry of Finance on Wednesday extended the deadline for the implementation of a new rule that mandated 20 per cent tax collected at source on foreign remittances. The increase in the TCS rate from 5 per cent, which was set to kick in on July 1, would now be effective from October 1. More importantly, the ministry added that overseas spending using credit and debit cards as well as remittances under the liberalised remittance scheme, up to Rs 7 lakh would not attract TCS. But, how will this new TCS regime affect you?  The long-speculated merger of India’s largest lender HDFC Bank and mortgage entity HDFC Ltd is finalised. HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh had said that the boards of HDFC twins are going ahead with the merger effectively on July 1. In Today’s Special, we discuss the implications that the merger is going to have on the two entities and how it will affect the banking sector.  Both the HDFC boards will meet on June 30, which would also be the last board meeting of mortgage entity HDFC Ltd, and its shares will go off-market effective July 13. Meanwhile, market action in the first half of the calendar year 2023 was triggered by moderation in domestic inflation, steady interest rates, return of foreign investors and some support from domestic institutions. Against this backdrop, benchmark indices notched fresh lifetime highs during these first six months of 2023. So, which sectors emerged as the top leaders and top laggards in H1CY23? And will the momentum continue in H2CY23 as well?  Below the boundless blue expanses lies the centuries-old wreckage of RMS Titanic surrounded by mesmerising oceanic flora and fauna – this is what the tourists travelling in OceanGate’s Titan submersible must have been looking forward to. While the expedition met with a catastrophic end, it has brought to light how wreck-diving is developing as a popular segment of the global underwater tourism market. Listen to this episode of the podcast and take a deep dive to understand what is wreck-diving.

The proposed merger of Air India and Vistara has flown into rough weather. It has attracted the glare of antitrust regulator CCI -- which has asked Air India to explain why this merger should not be probed. It comes mere months after Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines filed a merger application with the antitrust body in April, saying the amalgamation of the two airlines will not lead to any change in the competitive landscape of India. So in today’s first segment Bhaswar Kumar tries to find out why the CCI is now raising questions about the proposed merger, which was announced in late 2022?  And it is not just the big birds. Indian skies are also increasingly getting swarmed by drones. They are out for delivery. They are employed in security. And now, they are mapping land parcels in rural areas to help clearly define land rights. The recently launched government scheme Svamitva will provide exact coordinates for accurate map making with the help of drones.   Meanwhile, markets too have been flying high for the last few months with the Sensex and the Nifty hitting their fresh 52-week peak levels. Is there more steam left in the markets, or is it time for you to take some money off the table? Puneet Wadhwa spoke with Ajit Mishra, senior vice-president for technical research at Religare Broking on what the charts suggest. India’s financial markets, meanwhile, will lose a gem early next month as the shares of HDFC will delist on July 13. This mortgage institution -- which helped over one crore Indians realize their dream of owning a home in the last 45 years - is now merging with HDFC Bank. So how has this journey been so far? And how did these two Indian giants come into being? Listen to this episode of the podcast for answers. 

Go First has secured lenders’ approval for interim funding of 450 crore rupees. With this, the grounded airline -- which has filed for bankruptcy -- may come to the runway again. But will it finally take off from the runway?  Go First’s return to the sky will indeed be good news for consumers, as the aviation market is left with only two big players: Air India and Indigo. From the sky, let us shift focus to the depth of seas -- which has become a favourite destination for adventure-seeking tourists. But the recent implosion of Titan submersible has highlighted the other aspect of adventure tourism: the risks attached to it. So will the Titan sub disaster sink risk tourism?  Dealing in stocks -- with its unexpected movements -- can also be as thrilling as bungee jumping. Amid the ongoing bull rally, micro-cap stocks have been the flavour. With a sharp surge of 15% this year, the Nifty MicroCap index has sharply outperformed the Nifty50, midcap and smallcap indices. Find out the reason behind this rally, and if these stocks are worth your money A lot of investors it seems are over the moon as Sensex is hovering close to all-time high. Talking of the moon, the United States is planning to send humans again to the lunar surface by 2025. And, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the US, India joined the Artemis program -- which is aimed at another moon landing after the Apollo missions. So what are the Artemis Accords and what do they mean for India’s space exploration ambitions? Listen to this episode of the podcast for answers. 

After a late onset, monsoon seems to be finally making good time. It has covered almost 80% of the country -- arriving in Delhi and Mumbai at the same time. While the rains are again giving the civic bodies a tough time, the policy makers are a relieved lot. But how long will this relief last? Has monsoon solved this year’s food inflation problem?  Last weekend, when the monsoon clouds were progressing towards Delhi, neighbouring Russia was grappling with a different kind of march towards its capital Moscow. It was that of heavily armed Russian mercenaries led by former Vladimir Putin ally Yevgeny Prighozhin? While the march was cut short and Prighozhin was forced to leave the country, the development has certainly exposed chinks in Putin’s regime. Find out about the controversial Wagner leader and how he came into prominence in Russia.  Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, has described this rebellion as another crack in the Russian façade. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has dealt a big blow to the world economy. India too has been feeling the heat. In FY 23, IPO filings declined nearly 54%. But, this week, it seems, investors will be spoilt for choice as seven IPOs are set to hit the markets. The push comes amid a broad-based market revival. But, as global uncertainties keep secondary markets volatile, will this momentum in the primary market sustain?  Asset managers, meanwhile, are racing to develop artificial intelligence solutions that can help their clients get more returns. People are talking about AI’s application in almost every field. AI, it seems, now has baggage of expectations to carry. And a new term has been coined to explain this. It is AI hype. Today we explain what ‘AI hype’ is?

Byju’s juggernaut has come to a grinding halt. Just over a fortnight after it missed its interest payment on the 1.2 billion-dollar loan and took the lender to a court, its auditor has quit. Deloitte -- which was vetting Byju’s book for the last six years -- cited a long delay in its financial statement for the year ended March 31, 2022 as the reason for quitting. So in today’s first segment, Thareek Ahmed tries to answer if the country’s most valued ed-tech company will be able to revive its fortune.  Notwithstanding Byju’s troubles, India’s ed-tech market is expected to grow to $10 billion by 2025. India is the second largest market for e-learning after the United States. Moving on, ties between India and the US entered a new phase last week when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the country as a state guest. A clutch of agreements were signed during the period. Bhaswar Kumar takes a look at three key developments in the fields of semiconductor, space and jet engines. And he asks experts if these deals will take the relations between the two nations to a new high?  The United States has also emerged as the top destination for Indian IT exports. Select IT stocks have gained 10-26% so far in 2023 on hopes that a pause in policy tightening in the US may lead to a revival in IT spending. However, latest earnings from Accenture suggest that a recovery is still not in sight. So, are IT companies staring at tough days ahead?  Let us shift our focus back to the subject of PM Modi’s recent US visit. Giving new wings to the India-US ties, American jet engine manufacturer General Electric and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited have signed a pact to produce combat aircraft engines for the Indian Air Force. The agreement paves the way for the potential joint manufacturing of GE’s famous F414 engines in India. But ever wondered what exactly a jet engine is? And does it work? Listen to this episode of the podcast for answers. 

A recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has rekindled hopes of electric vehicle maker’s entry into the Indian market. And in Musk’s own words, the Texas-based company will be in India “as soon as humanly possible”. We focus on the EV components and battery space, and try to gauge whether or not Tesla’s entry into India will give a fillip to its nascent ecosystem in these sectors. Tesla’s China sales, meanwhile, have tripled in the last three years. But given the ongoing changes in policies and the talented pool of techies, India can become a good alternative. And a lot of these gold-standard techies come out from the country’s IITs. But, it seems, older IITs still hold an edge over the ones set up recently. A CAG report has indicated that the newer IITs are falling behind their counterparts in terms of performance and overall quality. So how can newer IITs catch up to Bombay and Madras counterparts?  After this interesting analysis of the country’s premier institutions, let us turn our gaze to its financial markets. Shares of select public sector undertaking companies have registered an impressive rally in the last one year. So then, are there any PSU pockets worth your money?  The government, meanwhile, may meet its disinvestment target for the current financial year even without selling any fresh stake in PSU, if its plans for IDBI Bank and Concor go through. But right now, all eyes are on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit. On Wednesday evening, he presented a bunch of gifts to US president Joe Biden and First Lady Jilly Biden. And one of them caught everyone’s attention. It was a 7.5-carat lab-grown green diamond. We all have heard of blood diamonds, but what is this green diamond? Let us find out in this episode of the podcast. 

India overtook the United Kingdom to become world’s fifth largest economy last year. And it is projected to grow at a rate of over 6% in the coming decade. So like others, Indian airlines too are racing to tap the demand from growing ranks of middle-class consumers. The country’s largest airline Indigo has inked a pact to purchase 500 planes this week. It has pipped Air India to set the new record for the biggest single-purchase agreement in history. So, what does this order mean for IndiGo and its future strategy? And what does it mean for the Indian civil aviation market?  After these two back-to-back historic aircraft deals, the challenge for Indian aviation is that it is staring at a duopoly now. Meanwhile, another sector critical for the economy is facing its own set of challenges. Parties in several states rode to power by promising cheap or free electricity. At least 27 states and union territories are now providing subsidised electricity to consumers. But it comes at a cost. Some of it is being borne by the industries in the form of cross subsidy. So is free power for households hurting industry?  Free or subsidised electricity has hit the discoms too, and affected their ability to pay power generators on time. Moving on, global markets have staged a smart recovery this calendar year, outperforming Indian stock markets by a wide margin. However, given sputtering economic recovery in China, and recession fears lingering around the US economy, how should investors approach global markets?  Staying with the theme of markets, we all know what Nifty is. The Nifty 50 and Bank Nifty indices are most-tracked by traders and are barometers for market sentiment. Starting July 3, market participants will hear another term more often. That is Gift Nifty. Sounds interesting, but what is it? Let's understand it and delve deeper in this episode of the podcast.  

The average daily sales of electric-two wheelers slipped into slow lane in June, as the withdrawal of subsidies and the resultant jump in prices apparently forced customers to slam brake on the electric-2 wheeler purchase. So what is the road ahead? Can electric two-wheelers survive without subsidies in India?  Indeed, the fledgling electric two-wheeler segment needs a little push from the government to take off. Its increased adoption will also help the government meet its green goals. Moving on, India’s residential real estate market is on a fast lane now, after a sluggish period marked by pandemic. People are loosening their purse strings like never before to purchase luxury homes. But wait. It is not only Mumbai’s beach facing areas which are costing a fortune. IT hub Gurgaon too is on the fire.  A recent hike in circle rates too pushed the rates of luxury properties in Gurugram. Let us now shift our gaze to the financial markets. Shares of micro-finance lenders have surged up to 45% over the last six months, even as the benchmark indices added just 2%. We find out the reason behind this rise, and if the current rally will sustain. Powel is widely believed to reiterate his views before the US panel, which he expressed in post-Fed meeting press briefings. People in the US are breathing easy now as inflation has dropped by half from last year’s peak. Back home too, people heaved a sigh of relief for a different reason. WhatsApp has introduced a new feature which can address the menace of unwanted calls. What is it? And how can it save us from spammers? Listen to this episode of the podcast for more. 

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.