BusinessLine Podcasts

Digital platforms claiming to offer hassle-free loans to individuals, small traders, and other borrowers are in the news these days. There have been several complaints against some of these lending platforms, lately. They primarily relate to exorbitant interest rates, non-transparent methods of calculating interest, harsh recovery measures, and unauthorised use of personal data. In this podcast, B...

India will chair the Taliban and Libya sanctions committees and the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council during its tenure as a non-permanent member of the powerful 15-nation body. India’s two-year tenure at the Council started last Friday. Here’s all you need to know about it. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

Recently, PM Narendra Modi, while inaugurating the Kochi-Mangaluru Natural Gas Pipeline, said the Centre is planning to invest crores of rupees in the oil and gas sector in this decade. He said that the pipeline will be a major driver of development in both Kerala and Karnataka,  and added that the nation is focusing on building a gas-based economy. He even said that the concept of ‘One Nation, On...

The world of business has seen many women making their mark. India too has an impressive list in this regard – including Indira Nooyi, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Renuka Jagtiani, Divya Gokulnath and many more. However, the debates surrounding the number of women becoming members of a company’s board ceases to end. These discussions are not only prominent in India but also across the globe. How is the sc...

In light of the recent avian flu issue, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying has asked Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to take adequate measures.  According to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases, there are currently 12 epicentres of bird flu in these States. These areas include Rajasthan’s Kota district, Indore of Madhya Pradesh, Kangra in Him...

Armed with a High Court order, the Future Group has told Amazon that it is not liable to pay any compensation as there has been no breach of contract. In a letter addressed to the American e-commerce giant, Future said it has not breached any contract clauses that were signed between Future Coupons (FCPL) and Amazon in 2019. BusinessLine 's Forum Gandhi tells us more about the tussle between both...

In a pandemic ravaged 2020, some of the richest people on this earth became even richer.  So far, the top 10 billionaires have added over $300 billion to their net worth in 2020, despite the pandemic. Meanwhile, the pandemic has left a huge impact on the lives the poor.  In a recent report, the World Bank has said that the global extreme poverty is expected to rise in 2020 for the first time in ov...

India's drugs regulator has approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country on Sunday, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) granted approval on the basis of recommendations by a COVID-19 Subject Expert Co...

In Part 2 of our episode on theatre, cinema and the story – we continue our conversation with theatre and film actor D Ramachandran. D Ramachandran tells us more about the magic of theatre and how it helps film actors excel. Listen to the podcast. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

The deadlock between protesting farmers and the Centre was broken on Wednesday with the latter conceding two of their four key demands — removal of penalty provision in the Commission for the Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2020, and scrapping of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill. The two main issues related to legalising MSP and withdrawing three farm laws were still u...

In this exclusive interview, Manu Lavanya, Director & Chief Operations Officer, Max Life Insurance, talks to BusinessLine about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the insurance sector, the company's digitalisation efforts and the outlook for the new year. He also talks about the company's insurtech accelerator, the Max Life Innovation lab, and how the project has helped both the company and...

The Central Government has mandated that an airbag must be provided for the passenger seated on the front seat of a vehicle, next to the driver. This feature, however, is present in most high-end cars including Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen and more.   The new rule is bound to have an impact on the overall price of automobiles, especially those in the passenger vehicle category. Also, owing to the Cov...

Looks like the superstar of Tamil cinema, Rajinikanth has backed-off from the world of politics yet again.  Earlier in December 2020, Rajinikanth had announced the launch of his new political party by January 2021. All his fans were more than elated, including those from his native village in Maharastra. But, a lot had changed after the actor was rushed to a hospital due to high Blood Pressure.  ...

You want something different? You get something different. At least if LG has anything to do with it. The LG Wing is above all something you won’t have seen elsewhere; an odd experimental idea that the Korean electronics giant has had the courage not to put away in the lab drawer but actually let loose in the wild. Those who buy it may also need a bit of that courage because like anything never tr...

Hi and welcome to Quick look, i am your host -Siddharth In his last ''Mann Ki Baat'' radio broadcast of the year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged people to substitute foreign-made products they use with items produced in India, and said they should make this resolution for the country in the new year. India made progress in the fight against the coronavirus, as the number of active ca...

A great playwright said – The world’s a stage, all men are merely players. Theatre or stage plays have indeed entertained crowds for centuries. For many years, it was considered an effective means of mass communication and was successful in altering many perspectives. Many great actors in world cinema hail from the theatre space. Naseeruddin Shah, the Late Om Puri, Denzel Washington, and many othe...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going all out to reach out to the farmers -- he once again explained how the new farm laws will help lakhs of farmers in an event today, even as thousands of farmers are protesting against the new laws near Delhi for nearly a month. Listen: Farmers' protest: All about the breakthrough Listen: Farmers' protest: What is the way out? The ruling BJP is reaching out to f...

India has appealed against the Vodafone tax arbitral award before a Singapore court, government sources confirmed. The tax dispute involves an amount of approximately $2 billion. The case has its roots in 2007, when Vodafone bought Hutchison's India assets for $11 billion in an off-shore deal. The Indian Tax department wanted Vodafone to pay taxes on the deal and the company moved to the Supreme C...

The Finance Ministry has notified a new set of norms for GST registration.  These norms were prepared based on the recommendations of GST Council’s Law Committee.  As per the new norms, if the applicant has opted for Aadhaar based authentication, then every application will be followed by biometric-based Aadhaar authentication and taking a photograph. In case the applicant does not go for the firs...

Air pollution comes in different forms -- they come from activities like residential and commercial biomass burning, coal burning, industrial emissions, stubble burning, diesel generators etc.  It is widely accepted that short-term and long-term exposure to air pollution can have an impact on disease burden and life expectancy. A new study, published in The Lancet, says that 16.7 lakh deaths in In...

The Redmi 9 Power is the new alternative to the Redmi 9 Prime which has been the most readily recommended in recent times. The 9 Power is a 6.5-inch phone and feels substantial, not small, and quite weighty though surprisingly light for a phone that has a 6,000mAh battery in it. That battery is, of course, the biggest though not the only selling point for this device because one can just keep goin...

Scientists in the United Kingdom have revealed that they have found a new strain of the coronavirus, which sent shockwaves across the world. On Saturday, scientists said that they have identified a strain of coronavirus, named N501Y, is up to 70 per cent more infectious than the original version, but it is not thought to be more deadly. Prime Minister Boris Johnson also announced strict lockdown r...

India crossed a grim milestone of 1 crore Covid cases this week. However, the number of active cases is low.  On Sunday, India’s COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,00,31,223 with 26,624 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll increased to 1,45,477 with 341 new fatalities. The COVID-19 active caseload in India has dropped to 3.05 lakh, comprising just 3.04 per cent of the total infect...

As the season of classical music and dance sets in, rasikas across the globe gear up for an experience like none other. After many decades, popular cultural festivals such as the Marghazhi festival and the Saptak will be conducting online performances. While some of the artists are relieved about the idea of digital concerts, and even dance recitals, one wonders about the lives of folk artistes fr...

Hello and welcome to News Explained. This is your host Siddharth Mathew.   Recently, Facebook ran full-page advertisements in major newspapers criticizing Apple's plans to limit the ability of the Facebook mobile app to gather data from people's phones. The data could be used for targeted advertising.  Facebook has accused rival Apple Inc of engaging in anti-competitive practices in a month-long s...