BusinessLine Podcasts

The CBDT recently notified Income Tax rules for calculating the tax on interest earned on employees’ provident fund contributions, exceeding specified limits. Tune in to the discussion between Kumar Shankar Roy, Senior Assistant Editor, and Satya Sontanam, Research Analyst, to know when the interest income on EPF becomes taxable and whether it is still an attractive avenue to invest in, in order t...

Burning fossil fuels is a major contributor to climate change. However, these materials continue to be our major source of energy and they dominate the global energy system. A new study published in the Nature journal has assessed the quantity of fossil fuels that need to be left in the ground, both regionally and globally, to allow for a 50 per cent probability of limiting warming to 1.5 °C. But,...

The Taliban announced its interim government on Tuesday. The 33-member Cabinet is male-dominated and is all from the group itself, despite previous promises to form an inclusive administration for all Afghans. The group, which overthrew the civilian government amid the troop withdrawal of the US, has four big challenges ahead. Listen in. Subscribe to our new podcast channel 'The BL Context' here. ...

Indian imports 60% of the edible oil it consumes and runs up an import bill of Rs 80,000 crore. Of that palm oil alone accounts for 55%. In the quest for self-sufficiency, the government wants to promote palm oil cultivation big time in India. The target is to grow it on 3 million hectares over the next decade. So, what's the problem? While palm is the most prolific and efficient source of vegetab...

In this episode of the Portfolio podcast, we look at bumper-to-bumper insurance and other add-ons available for vehicle insurance. The recent Madras High Court order making bumper-to-bumper insurance mandatory for new vehicles sold from September 2021, has generated interest. The order also mentions providing cover for the driver, the passengers and the owners. Tune into the discussion between Sat...

In less than two months, large parts northern India will yet again turn into unbreathable gas chamber as farmers in Punjab and Haryana begin to burn their paddy crop residue. It is not only a health hazard, especially during the Covid pandemic but also an annual global embarrassment for India. Can this be conyained? TR Vivek is in conversation with AK Singh the director of Indian Agriculture Resea...

The final phase of implementation of the peak margin rules comes into effect today, the first of September. What does this mean? and, how does it affect the markets?  Today, we are joined by Deputy Editor KS Badri Narayan, who will help us understand the issue better. Listen. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

Recently, popular items like  Jamnagri Bandhini, Kolhapuri chappals, Kashmiri Papier Mache, Naga chilies, and Tamil Nadu machine parts have been chosen by the Centre for export promotion and increasing market accessibility under the One District One Product (ODOP) project.  The scheme is a flagship project of the Modi government and the Prime Minister has spoken about how it can help small industr...

Hiring activity in India is at a pre-pandemic baseline, for the first time in months, according to data from job platform Indeed. As per Indeed's report, job growth continues to accelerate, and more workers are finding jobs or are starting to pick up their job search. Sectors tied to the reopening of the labour market are leading the way with IT, Sanitation and Retail fueling demand. Listen to thi...

The world has not had a new tuberculosis (TB) drug in about half a century, and then there were three. One of them, Pretomanid, was developed by non-profit organisation TB Alliance. Its President and CEO Dr Mel Spigelman gives us a peek into plans to make it more available, besides explaining why it is necessary to walk the fine line between medicine affordability and supply sustainability. As par...

The Tamil Nadu government has issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) for re-opening schools for 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th standards from September 1. The procedure has four broad themes. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

The Ministry of Civil Aviation announced the Drone Rules 2021, under this, the number of forms that need to be filled to operate drones has been reduced from 25 to 5 and the types of fees charged from the operator have been decreased from 72 to 4. Besides that several approvals that were previously needed under the previous Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021 has been abolished and new proc...

A powerful cartel of politicians across political parties has created an empire of co-operative sugar mills. The mills, in the name of helping lakhs of farmers receive massive government subsidies and large tracts of land virtually for free. The mills borrow money from co-operative banks never to be returned, and the politicians first bankrupt the mills and then conspire to take private ownership...

A little over a week ago, the Union Finance Ministry imposed the definitive anti-dumping duty on Phthalic Anhydride imports from China, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea. Now, the Finance Ministry has revoked existing anti-dumping duty on barium carbonate imports from China. What exactly is anti-dumping duty and how does it affect trade and different industries? To answer these questions, we hav...

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Monday, launched the National Monetisation Pipeline, which is an asset monetisation mechanism of Central public sector entities. The Centre wants to generate ₹6-lakh crore between 2021-22 and 2024-25 and create new assets. The scheme was announced in this year’s Budget. What is the scheme all about? BuisnessLine's Shishir Sinha explains in this podcast. ---...

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar led a delegation of politicians from the State, including RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, Congress' Ajeet Sharma and HAM's Jitan Ram Manjhi, to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. The chief minister urged the prime minister to take the decision on the issue of the caste-based census. What did they discuss? Why this issue now? Listen in. --- Send in a voice message:...

The All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council has called a nationwide ‘token strike’ on Monday (August 23) to protest against the government’s new mandatory hallmarking norms. What is the controversy all about? BusinessLine's Deputy Editor Suresh P Iyengar explains in this podcast. Listen in. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

 The Taliban has stormed Kabul and seized power. With this, the US’ two-decade-long war against terrorism came to a futile end. There are two issues at play here—why the US left and how they left. Critics of the US govt say that they left in a hurry and they did so at the cost of the Afghan people. ORF’s Kriti Shah explains what lead to the crisis in the nation and the various players and factors...

There seems to be a lot of action in the credit card space. HDFC Bank said it is ready with strategies to ‘come back with a bang’ in the arena. So, are you wondering what the context is? Our Deputy Editor Surabhi tells us more about the story. Listen in. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

In the world's largest agro-ecological experiment, Andhra Pradesh wants to turn 80 lakh hectares of farmland natural or completely chemical free by 2027. Is it an unscientific leap into the unknown or our best bet against climate crisis. TR Vivek speaks to T Vijayakumar, the special chief secretary to Andhra government on natural farming, spearheading this project, on the natural farming movement....

The discussion related to Covid vaccines continues to get intense. Now, the World Health Organization has issued an alert on falsified versions of “Covishield” identified in Africa and South-East Asia Region. Listen to the podcast. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

Looking at 75 years of independent India through the prism of mental health – have we broken free of the stigma that surrounds it? It’s still a long journey ahead, indicates Neerja Birla, founder -Mpower, a mental health initiative, as she discusses grief-support groups, treatment gaps, and the ever-increasing calls to their 24/7, toll-free helpline (1800-120-820050). Listen in. --- Send in a voic...

The Indian Parliament witnessed a wash out on Wednesday. This has raised many pertinent questions regarding the country's democracy. Is there a solution to such problems? We are joined by BusinessLine's political editor, Poornima Joshi to discuss the matter in detail. Listen. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

The latest Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme is open for subscription until August 13, 2021. The issue price is ₹4,790 per bond. There is a discount of Rs 50 on the issue.   So, wondering if you should invest in the Sovereign Gold Bond Issue?  Listen. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

234 scientists from around the world have finalised a new report assessing the state of the global climate. These scientists have been nominated by IPCC member governments around the world. By the way, the IPCC has 195 member countries. This report is the first of four that make up the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report. It looks at the physical science behind climate change and its impacts.  So, why...