Top headlines: Financial stability report delayed; panel to vet MSP

From financial stability report delayed as govt wants to 'consult' RBI to India's Covid vaccine hope rolling over to 2021, here are top headlines this morning

Financial stability report delayed as govt wants to 'consult' RBI

The Financial Stability Report (FSR), which was scheduled to be released on Wednesday, has been delayed as the government wants to “consult” the Reserve Bank of India on the stance of the report. The new date for the release of the report has been tentatively fixed on January 11 next year. The discussion will be over the FSR’s stance on the future trend in non-performing assets (NPAs) and that of the government’s, which sources said, is relatively benign. Read More

New margin norms: F&O turnover at record high in December, shows data

The overall derivatives turnover on the exchanges this month touched a record high amid a surge in volatility and greater institutional participation, especially from overseas investors. The daily average turnover in the F&O (futures & options) segment for December stood at Rs 31.44 trillion, a 2.6 per cent gain over the previous month and 58 per cent higher than the average turnover clocked for the entire year, the exchange data showed. Read More

2020, the year that was: Coronavirus shadow may not go anytime soon

At the beginning of 2020, nobody could have predicted that it would turn out to be one of the worst years for the Indian economy in memory. Quarterly growth in gross domestic product (GDP) had begun to slow, but even so there was some optimism about the course of the year. But, although very few knew of it, the novel coronavirus was already raging through the city of Wuhan in the closing days of December 2019. The lockdowns and social distancing that followed the spread of the coronavirus have impacted growth everywhere, but in no G-20 country as much as in India. Read More

India's Covid vaccine hope rolls over to 2021; panel to meet again on Jan 1

Soon after the UK drug regulator approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Wednesday, Indian authorities got into action to consider the applications from key players like Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech for emergency use authorisation. Serum Institute is in a tie-up with Oxford-AstraZeneca to manufacture vaccine against Covid-19. Read More

Govt proposes panel to vet MSP, repeal of farm laws; fresh talks on Jan 4

The sixth round of talks between the Centre and agitating farmers made some headway on Wednesday, with the government agreeing to two of the four main demands and deciding to meet again on January 4 to deliberate on the contentious issues of the repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP). The Centre also proposed to set up a committee to examine the latter two demands, a final decision on which is expected in the next meeting. Read More

Covid-19 impact: Hybrid model to be the next chapter in edtech sector

The edtech sector saw it all in 2020 — decacorns, unicorns, consolidations, and legal battles. Though online education has seen over 15 years of meaningful existence, 2020 will be known as a milestone year for the sector, with the Covid-19 pandemic forcing students and parents to embrace e-learning as the most viable way of studying. While the world is expected to come out of the impact of the pandemic sooner than later, experts believe that e-learning is going to be part and parcel of everyone’s life co-existing. Read More

Luxury hill resorts limit number of guests, turn up wellness amid Covid-19

Luxury resorts and wellness retreats are capping off a gloomy year for hospitality with optimism, thanks to a growing interest among people who are desperate to take a break and reinvigorate themselves more urgently than ever. And what better than a getaway in the secure bubble of properties nestled in the hills? Araiya Palampur, a year-old resort in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, spent a month training its staff in new protocols of sanitisation and contact-less services after being shuttered from March-end to June. Read More

Water treadmill to Hoverbike: Innovations get cool, smart, quirky in 2020

Despite the doom and gloom of the pandemic, quite a few unusual inventions unconnected with viruses and masks have emerged this year. The following list focuses purely on unusual stuff that might tickle the fancy of the retail consumer. There are no hydrogen-powered airplanes or other interesting industrial products here. Read More

Team Biden: Janet Yellen-Katherine Tai touch on trade with India

Treasury Secretary One of the first India-related issues that Treasury Secretary elect Janet Yellen will have to decide on is exchange rates. Can the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continue to tamp down on rupee’s appreciation when the US Treasury has in December this year added India to the watchlist of countries being monitored for currency manipulation? The RBI cannot stop the huge foreign exchange inflows, which make it both heavily buy US treasury papers and also forces it to be aggressive in the exchange market. Read More