TMS Ep578: Pre-election rally, JSW, Reliance & Tata e-commerce, My Lord

The equity markets scaled fresh lifetime highs on December 4, a day after BJP swept three out of four states elections. So, have the assembly poll results set the stage for a pre-general election rally? 

The market valuation of BSE-listed companies recently touched 4 trillion dollars. It is now narrowing the gap with Hong Kong. Nikkei meanwhile has just reported that there are more initial public offerings in Mumbai’s two exchanges than any financial centre in China. Staying with China, India’s JSW Group last week signed a pact with Chinese state-owned SAIC Motor -- which makes MG cars. As part of the deal, India’s largest steel maker will pick up a 35% stake in the joint venture which will make electric cars in India. But why is JSW Group entering the automobile sector? 

But not all consumer-facing forays turn into money-minting businesses overnight. Even conglomerates struggle on that. India’s legacy conglomerates Reliance Industries and the Tata Group’s foray into e-commerce looked promising in the start because of their massive offline presence for decades together. But several years on, Amazon and Flipkart still rule the Indian e-commerce landscape – with over 60% share. Find out why Reliance and Tata are struggling at e-commerce.

After the competitive world of e-commerce, let us turn our gaze to court corridors where an interesting debate is raging. How should a judge be addressed? Last month, a Supreme Court judge expressed displeasure at being called “my lord”. He preferred being called sir. But why are judges called “my lord”? Listen to this episode of the podcast for answers.