BusinessLine Podcasts

In a bid to take a leadership position on tackling climate change, US president Joe Biden convened a virtual summit with 40 leaders from around the world, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese president Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the 21st and 22nd of April. In the summit, the leaders discussed various issues related to climate change. They talked about dea...

Amid the reports related to the demand for oxygen cylinders, vaccines, masks and other essentials required to tackle Covid-19 infections, there also seems to be a rise in the demand for hand sanitisers. FMCG companies – large and small – are witnessing an uptick in demand for hygiene products, including sanitisers and hand washes. According to the data sourced from Bizom, the demand for sanitisers...

After sharp criticism from the Calcutta High Court,  the Election Commission has imposed strict restrictions on campaigns to combat the sharp rise in coronavirus cases in West Bengal. This comes even as top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cancelling their rallies in the State.  In this episode of Mandate, we take a look at the mismanagement of the Covid crisis in West Bengal and i...

India’s wheat production is on course for record production, despite some farmers, especially in Madhya Pradesh, reporting lower yield. The Union Government has projected a record crop of 109.24 million tonnes. In this episode of Field Notes, T R Vivek and Subramani Ra Mancombu discuss the reasons behind this surplus wheat crop and whether a move by Punjab and Haryana government to directly credit...

Due to the current situation related to the Covid-19 infections, the Supreme Court said that it wanted a “national plan” on issues, including supply of oxygen and essential drugs for the treatment of patients infected with the virus.  A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde also said that it would also consider the matter pertaining to the method and manner of in which Covid-19 vac...

From June 1 , 2021, the government has introduced mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery. This comes at a time when gold prices have corrected and jewellery demand may see a rise. What is the outlook for prices now and what should buyers know about hallmarking?  Listen to this conversation between Akhil Nallamuthu, Sr Research Analyst and Bavadharini KS, Research Analyst. --- Send in a voice mess...

Amid the Covid-19 vaccination drives taking place across the globe, the phrase ‘Emergency Use Authorisation’ has created a lot buzz lately. How this phrase affect you? Listen to the podcast. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

The Assembly elections in West Bengal has crossed the halfway mark, as the fifth round of polling taking place on Saturday. But the polling and has been marred with violence as there were reports of clashes between the ruling TMC, BJP and the CPI (M) in the State. In the previous round of polling, six people, including a CISF personnel, were killed in violence in two separate incidents in the Stat...

The first round of lockdowns and restrictions beginning March last year, crippled India's agricultural supply chain. The demand collapsed as hotels, restaurants, offices and institutions shut. Farmers couldn't harvest their produce as labour disappeared overnight. Even if they could harvest, there were few places to sell. As the rate of infections begins to soar again, the spectre of lockdowns and...

The second-wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has hit India. Will the vaccination drive be the only solution to the problem? What do the experts recommend? We speak BusinessLine's P T Jyothi Datta to learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

The risk of being exposed to the Covid-19 virus on an airline flight drops by as much as half when airlines keep middle seats open, a new study published by the US government concludes, a safety practice the carriers have abandoned. Listen in. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

With the number of Covid cases rising once again in India, many States have imposed a series of measures to contain the spread of the deadly disease, but these measures will have an impact on the economy. Moody’s Investors Service believes that this wave could pose a credit-negative threat to India’s economic recovery. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-l...

The ROG Phone 5 features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G mobile platform with a 5nm 64-bit Octa-core processor. it also has a 6.78-inch FHD+ display with a resolution of 2448x1080 pixels. The devices have a 144Hz/1ms AMOLED HDR10+ certified display with a 300Hz touch sampling rate. Listen in to know more about the ROG Phone 5. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bus...

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a leading think tank for science and technology policy, has said that India is critical if the US wants to counter a rising China. It said that India has many highly skilled technical professionals and that both nations share strong political and cultural ties. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/m...

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif blamed Israel for a power outage in the nation’s Natanz nuclear facility. Multiple Israeli media outlets have reported that the country's Mossad spy service carried out a successful operation at the underground complex, but Israel has not formally commented on the incident. Where does this leave the negotiations between Iran and the major wo...

Diversifying your investments across the shores into the US markets comes with its own benefits. What should investors know before taking the plunge?  Hari Viswanath, Chief Research Analyst in conversation with Akhil Nallamuthu, Sr. Research Analyst and Kumar Shankar Roy, Sr. Asst. Editor. Listen in. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

Reliance Jio Infocomm has entered into a ₹1,037.6-crore spectrum trade with Bharti Airtel. According to the agreement, Sunil Mittal-backed Bharti Airtel will transfer its 800 MHz spectrum in Andhra Pradesh (3.75 MHz), Delhi (1.25 MHz), and Mumbai (2.50 MHz) to RJio. In addition to the upfront payment of ₹1,037.6 crore, RJio will take over Airtel’s future spectrum liabilities of ₹459 crore.  Here's...

Reserve Bank of India expectedly left interest rates unchanged and maintained an accommodative stance. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the key repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent to support growth in the current situation.  Here's all you need to know. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

Did you know that the NFT for an animated meme of a flying pop-tart cat was sold for more than $500,000? Listen to the podcast. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

In this episode of 'The Mandate', we take a look at Tamil Nadu, which goes to the polls on April 6, 2021. This election is very important for the Dravidian parties -- the AIADMK is looking to win three times in a row, while the DMK is looking to take retrieve Fort St. George after sweeping the Lok Sabha election and local body elections in 2019. We also take a look at smaller parties (like the AMM...

Pakistan’s Federal Cabinet on Thursday deferred a proposal of its Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) to import sugar, cotton, and yarn from India “until Article 370 is restored”. TR Vivek and Subramani Ra Mancombu look at what this decision means for both countries and whether Pakistan sets to lose out more due to this move. Edited & Produced by Siddharth Mathew Cherian Read the full story here...

After announcing sharp cuts in interest rates on post–office schemes for the April –June 2021 quarter initially, the Centre reversed its decision and has retained the interest rates on these instruments at the same levels at which it was in the last quarter of FY21. Tune in to the discussion between Keerthi Sanagasetti, Research Analyst, and Parvatha Vardhini, Head of Research, to know more about...

In this episode of 'The Mandate', we take a look at Assam, where the second phase of polling is underway in 39 constituencies across 13 districts. In Assam, the BJP government is hoping that the various welfare measures it implemented will help the party win in the State. The Congress is relying on a new alliance formation to come back to power. If we take the vote share from 2016 into considerati...

The rating agency Crisil today presented the credit Round of India Inc for the second half of FY21. The credit ratio of companies has improved significantly since the onset of the pandemic and the broader economic forecast looks cautiously optimistic. Somasekhar Vemuri, Senior Director at Crisil speaks to TR Vivek on India's road to recovery. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify...

Pakistan's Finance Minister Hammad Azhar said that the Economic Coordination Committee allowed private sector firms to import five lakh tonnes of white sugar from India. He also said that Pakistan will import cotton from India starting June this year. He admitted that the ban on cotton import from India had a direct effect on Pakistani SMEs and that they have decided to resume cotton trade on the...