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Mumbai: It is India's fourth biggest company by revenue, but the managing director of precious metals trader Rajesh Exports (REL) apparently doesn't know how and from where it gets the biggest chunk of the revenue, show the findings of a regulatory investigation.In its investigation report, the Securities and Exchange Board of India observed allegedly unscrupulous activities by REL's promoters, such as accounting irregularities and siphoning off of company funds into personal accounts, and also pointed out lapses by its auditors. The regulator said the company and its auditors were non-cooperative."The acts of REL constitute a deliberate device, scheme and artifice to mislead and defraud investors dealing in the shares of REL by portraying an inflated and misleading picture of its operational scale, revenue and financial health," Sebi observed in its report.The company, eponymously named after its chairman Rajesh Mehta, is accused of committing an elaborate financial fraud that includes dressing-up of revenues of ₹15.15 lakh crore over the years, personal gold trades covered up as corporate sales and phoney gold mine investments of ₹1,035 crore, according to the interim report.REL denied the charges of misdeeds. In a press release Thursday, the company said the revenues stated in its financials were correct and that the confusion arose because of a mix-up between Ebitda and revenue numbers at Swiss refiner Valcambi SA, an indirect subsidiary.Sebi has not made any adverse observation with regard to earnings, the company said, claiming that the regulator has only observed suspicion with regard to revenues which was primarily because of confusion over the Valcambi numbers.Numbers don't add upIn fiscal 2025, REL reported consolidated revenue of ₹4.23 lakh crore against a profit after tax of just ₹95 crore, translating into a net margin of barely 0.02%. The year before, on ₹2.8 lakh crore revenue, profit was ₹336 crore.Experts who have studied the Sebi report and the company's annual reports say the numbers did not add up. The business appeared to be operating at margins that were not merely thin but structurally negligible, they said."It looks like a case of pass-through accounting. There is no value creation. It was 'flow of gold' being booked as revenue," said a leading auditor on the condition of anonymity.Sebi, which began the investigations in March 2024 following a shareholder complaint about suspected accounting malpractices, said it found that about 97-99% of REL's consolidated revenues were attributed to its overseas subsidiaries, principally Valcambi. But Valcambi's own accounts, audited by KPMG SA, recorded only processing fees that were about ₹3,027 crore across five years.Valcambi refined gold on behalf of clients and never took ownership of the precious metal or recognised the value of gold as revenue in its books. Yet, Global Gold Refineries AG (GGR), the parent of Valcambi that had no independent operating business, recorded gross revenues running into hundreds of crores by including the gross value of gold that actually belonged to others, according to the Sebi report.Rajesh Exports, which owns GGR through a Singapore subsidiary, used those unaudited figures in its financial statements, significantly bumping up the company's revenue, it said.In its press release, REL said: "The core observation in the order is with regard to the misreporting of the revenues. This has emerged primarily due to confusion because Sebi has considered the Ebitda of Valcambi instead of revenue hence it has stated that there is a difference of about 97% in the revenue.""There is no reason for any listed entity to inflate revenue and maintain the earnings, this will only reduce the margins of the company, which would be adverse to the company," it said.Senior management in the darkThe senior management of REL told regulators that most of them were in the dark about the company's overseas operations and only the promoter, Rajesh Mehta, dealt with those activities."Valcambi SA does not have any gold mine on its own," managing director Suresh Gowda was quoted in the Sebi order as saying. "It refines the raw gold purchased by it from various entities, whose names I do not recollect, as these things are exclusively handled by Rajesh Mehta, chairman of REL. I have never interacted nor involved with any subsidiary/step-down subsidiary of REL, as these were exclusively taken care of by Rajesh Mehta," he told the investigators, as per the order.According to the report, REL booked ₹11,487 crore in sales between 2021-22 and 2023-24 to Affluence Shares and Stocks, a broker that made up to 66% of the company's standalone revenue for that period. But Affluence, in formal depositions to the regulator, said it had not done any business with REL.Following the transaction trail, the investigators found out that the transactions were personal gold derivative trades executed by promoter Mehta using his own brokerage account and then recorded in the company's books as corporate sales, the order said.The investigators also found that Mehta used corporate funds. As per the Sebi observations, bank records show REL transferred ₹338.90 crore directly into Mehta's personal accounts between April 2020 and September 2025.Unlike in the case of Nirav Modi or Gitanjali Gems, who are accused of bank fraud, Rajesh Exports doesn't appear to have borrowed big from banks or through sale of bonds, according to regulatory filings.The company's market cap was just over ₹3,000 crore, as per Thursday's closing share price. LIC (10.8%) and Bridge India Fund (8.46%) are its major institutional shareholders."It is striking that, even at a peak market capitalisation of ₹25,000 crore, the company did not hold any analyst calls, a basic expectation for a listed company of that scale," said Shriram Subramanian, founder and managing director of InGovern Research Services, a corporate governance advisory firm.The regulator in 2024 hired BDO India Services to investigate. But the forensic audit faced problems at almost every stage of the investigation. It was denied access to ERP systems and was not provided a complete journal dump, preventing independent verification of transactions recorded in the books, according to the regulatory report.And the company declined to share subsidiary-level records with the investigator, citing Swiss data protection laws, limiting auditors largely to reviewing financial statements prepared by the management itself rather than underlying evidence, it said.What's also come under the scanner was the conduct of statutory auditors for the last few years: CA PV Ramana Reddy, the proprietor at PV Ramana Reddy & Co, and CA PL Venkatadri, partner at BSD & Co.The company's FY24 and FY25 annual reports, filed with the stock exchanges, carry an unqualified opinion from BSD & Co, which concluded that the financial statements presented a "true and fair view" in line with Indian Accounting Standards.The company's FY24 Directors' Report noted that the statutory and secretarial auditors had made no qualifications, reservations or adverse remarks.The Sebi report said for over five months, the auditors sat on the regulator's request for missing documents and statements.Emails sent to both audit firms did not elicit any response.REL closed 5% lower at ₹103.92 Thursday on the NSE. The shares are down from their peak of ₹1,028.40 on February 6, 2023.
Mumbai: Global investors continued to pare equity stake in the financial services sector in the second half of May, however the pace of selling came off.Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) sold shares worth ₹5,181 crore from the sector in the period, significantly lower than the outflow of ₹17,000 crore in first half of the month, according to the data from NSDL. Between January and March, global investors pulled out shares worth over ₹60,000 crore from the sector."Banking stocks offered foreign investors an easy exit from India by virtue of being highly liquid," said U R Bhat, co-founder & director, Alphaniti. "Despite the sell-off, the sector has fared well, barring a few specific exceptions. Now investors are reducing exposure in other sectors."Bank Nifty fell 1% over the past one month compared with a 2.9% drop in the benchmark Nifty 50."Global investors toned down the selling in the banking and financial services sector and bought selectively- mostly smaller banks instead of the large caps which is why the pace of outflows moderated," said Sonam Srivastava, founder and CEO, Wright Research. Overseas investors sold shares worth ₹14,621 crore across 13 sectors in the second half of May, after withdrawing ₹38,443 crore across 19 sectors in the first half of the month.131518952FPIs have continued the selling spree in the current calendar year, offloading equities worth ₹2.6 lakh crore up till June 03. This exceeds their outflow of ₹1.7 lakh crore in the whole of 2025. A sustained selling pressure has intensified this year due to AI disruption and inflationary pressure on account of elevated oil prices given the US-Iran war. In addition, the net outflow of ₹1.3 lakh crore in FY27 so far exceeds the net investment of ₹84,132 crore by FPIs since FY17. The cumulative net foreign investment in Indian equities dropped to the lowest level in 12 years to ₹7.1 lakh crore in FY27.In the second half of May, automobiles and oil and gas sectors reported worth over ₹2,000 crore. On May 29, The MSCI rebalancing led to outflows worth ₹8,000-8,500 crore which also factored in the outflows for this fortnight. "Changes in the MSCI Index shifts the composition of not just index funds that mimic the index but also weighs on decisions of other funds,who largely use MSCI indices as benchmarks" said Bhat.Among sectors that reported net inflows in the second half of May, metals attracted nearly 60% of the inflows -the highest foreign inflows worth ₹4,999 crore for the period. The sector witnessed inflows worth over ₹6,500 crore in May.
Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar has raised doubts over Pakistan's potential role as a regional mediator, warning India that the Middle East conflict serves as a "preview" of radical tactics that could soon impact its own neighbourhood.In an interview with PTI Videos, he rejected the notion that Pakistan possesses the credibility to act as a mediator in regional negotiations.Labelling the country unreliable, Azar characterized Pakistan as a "problematic player" whose involvement requires the US to exercise "special caution" to avoid potential traps."I don't think they are reliable," he said about Pakistan's mediation role.He added that when mediators lean towards a "terrorist entity" or "legitimize radicalism", it becomes "very tricky because the United States has to exercise special caution not to fall into traps set not only by the opposing side but also by the mediator".The envoy further alleged an increasing connection between radical elements and the region, noting a rise in visits by Hamas leaders to both Pakistan and Bangladesh over the last two years.Turning to the India angle, Azar claimed that because Israel is the most attacked country in the world, the threats it faces often serve as a "preview to a movie coming to a theatre in your neighbourhood".He specifically alleged that radical groups are drawing twisted inspiration from the October 7 attacks and warned that the methodologies of hybrid warfare, including using human shields and manipulating media, are likely to be emulated elsewhere.While commenting on Israel's policy of mandatory military service, Azar refrained from suggesting India adopt similar models.He observed that India is "blessed" with a large territory and population, expressing confidence that the Indian government is making the "right decisions" regarding its own recruitment and defence needs.He, however, noted the "positive aspect of conscription" in maturing young citizens and instilling a sense of responsibility."It doesn't mean that one size fits all. Each country has to find its own way." PTI SHJ ZMN
For most investors, the focus is often on finding the right stock, entering at the right valuation, and identifying the next multibagger. Far fewer spend time understanding what may be the more difficult aspect of investing—knowing when to sell.Speaking at the ET Alpha Wealth Summit on Thursday on "The Art of the Exit," Rajiv Thakkar, CIO and Director at PPFAS Asset Management said that successful investing is not just about buying well but also about staying invested long enough for compounding to work. In fact, before discussing reasons to sell, he spent considerable time explaining why investors should avoid selling in the first place.According to Thakkar, one of the biggest mistakes investors make is selling because a stock has not moved for a few months.Also Read | ET Alpha Wealth Summit: Future alpha may emerge from neglected markets and asset classes, says Kalpen Parekh Investors often spend significant effort researching a company, understanding management quality, assessing industry prospects and evaluating valuations. Yet after purchasing the stock, many lose patience if prices remain stagnant for six months or a year.https://youtube.com/shorts/RiLj-X02NNE?feature=share"Investments are meant for wealth creation, not entertainment," he said, cautioning against treating investing like a source of excitement or constant action.Another common trigger for unnecessary selling is reacting to news flow. Markets are constantly bombarded with information—wars, elections, crude oil fluctuations, interest-rate decisions, capital flows and economic data. Investors who react to every headline often end up making poor decisions.To illustrate this, Thakkar recounted the story of an investor who received advance information about the severity of the Covid outbreak in early 2020. Acting on that information, the investor sold his technology stocks before the market crash. While the prediction turned out to be accurate, fear prevented him from re-entering the market, and he ultimately missed one of the strongest rallies in technology stocks.The lesson, according to Thakkar, is that even correct information does not necessarily translate into successful investment outcomes. Thakkar was particularly critical of the concept of "profit booking."Investors often feel compelled to sell simply because a stock has appreciated significantly. However, he argued that wealth is created by allowing successful investments to compound rather than by repeatedly locking in gains.Frequent buying and selling may benefit brokers, exchanges and tax authorities, but it often works against long-term investors. Hyperactivity in portfolios can destroy wealth by interrupting compounding and increasing costs.Similarly, investors should avoid selling because another stock appears more attractive. This "buyer's remorse" mindset frequently causes investors to abandon good businesses prematurely in pursuit of seemingly better opportunities."If you manage to find a genuinely good business with strong management, a large opportunity set and reasonable valuations, the best course of action is often to simply stay invested," he said.Thakkar emphasised that investors in taxable jurisdictions such as India should maintain low portfolio turnover whenever possible. Unlike institutional structures such as mutual funds or investors in tax-free jurisdictions, individual investors face taxes and transaction costs every time they trade. Excessive churn can significantly reduce long-term returns.For wealthy investors, family offices and HNIs, the ability to remain invested and minimise unnecessary transactions often becomes a major source of compounding advantage.Also Read | ET Alpha Wealth Summit: India could unlock a $5 trillion export opportunity through FTAs, says Saurabh Mukherjea While most reasons for selling are flawed, Thakkar identified several situations where exiting an investment becomes necessary. The most obvious reason is the need for capital. If an investor requires money for a business opportunity, acquisition or personal objective, selling investments may be entirely justified. More importantly, investors must be willing to acknowledge mistakes.If an investment thesis turns out to be wrong because of flawed analysis, poor due diligence or changing circumstances, the best course is often to exit quickly rather than averaging down endlessly.According to Thakkar, investors who recognise mistakes early frequently outperform those who identify good opportunities but refuse to sell losing positions. Capital trapped in poor investments cannot be deployed into better opportunities. Fraud, naturally, represents an immediate reason to exit.One of the more challenging selling decisions arises when industries face structural disruption. Questions such as whether newspapers can survive the internet, whether thermal power can coexist with renewable energy or whether traditional automobile manufacturers can adapt to electric vehicles rarely have straightforward answers.Thakkar suggested that investors should not react impulsively but should continuously evaluate incoming evidence. Investment decisions should be driven by facts rather than sentiment. If the underlying business continues to deteriorate because of technological or structural change, investors must eventually acknowledge reality and exit.At the same time, distinguishing genuine disruption from temporary noise remains critical. Exceptional businesses are not immune to becoming overvalued. Thakkar pointed to situations where valuations become so excessive that future growth is already fully reflected in stock prices. In such cases, taking profits, paying taxes and reallocating capital may be sensible.He also noted that investors may sell a reasonably valued investment if a significantly superior opportunity emerges elsewhere.During the question-and-answer session, investors raised concerns about stocks that stop performing despite sound fundamentals. Examples such as Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel and even silver investments highlighted a common dilemma: should investors exit after years of gains and subsequent consolidation?Also Read | MF Tracker: Can ICICI Prudential Multicap Fund sustain its strong track record in a volatile market? Thakkar's response was that even excellent businesses can spend years moving sideways. Companies such as Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and Bharat Electronics have all gone through extended periods of stagnant share-price performance despite remaining fundamentally strong businesses.Investors should therefore distinguish between stock-price performance and business performance. As long as the underlying business continues to execute well, temporary market stagnation alone is not a sufficient reason to sell.For investors worried about selling too early, Thakkar recommended a phased approach. Instead of attempting to identify exact market tops, investors can gradually reduce exposure over time. For instance, if a stock appears significantly overvalued, an investor might sell a portion every month rather than exiting entirely in one transaction.This systematic approach helps manage the emotional difficulty of selling while reducing the risk of poor timing. Another important consideration is position sizing. Addressing a question about highly successful investments such as Nvidia, Thakkar noted that even outstanding businesses can become disproportionately large components of a portfolio.When a single stock grows from a small allocation into a dominant position, investors face a different risk—wealth preservation rather than wealth creation. His solution is gradual trimming. Investors can periodically reduce oversized positions to maintain comfortable portfolio weightings while still participating in future upside.This approach may not maximise returns, but it significantly reduces the risk of catastrophic losses and helps investors sleep better during periods of volatility.Thakkar concluded by stressing the importance of diversification and long-term investing. Most individuals create wealth through a single business, profession or sector. Their financial portfolios should therefore diversify away from that concentration rather than amplify it.Whether through mutual funds, retirement vehicles such as NPS, EPF and PPF, or diversified portfolios, investors should focus on owning inflation-protected assets for long periods. "The lower the churn in a portfolio, the greater the opportunity for compounding," he said.Ultimately, successful investing is not about perfectly timing every entry and exit. It is about avoiding unnecessary activity, admitting mistakes quickly, remaining patient with good businesses and ensuring that no single investment becomes large enough to threaten long-term financial stability.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)If you have any mutual fund queries, message on ET Mutual Funds on Facebook/Twitter. We will get it answered by our panel of experts. Do share your questions on ETMFqueries@timesinternet.in alongwith your age, risk profile, and Twitter handle.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Wednesday clarified that students applying for verification and re-evaluation of Class XII answer sheets do not need to have accounts with State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda or Indian Bank to make payments on its online portal, addressing confusion that emerged after the system was launched earlier this week, Times of India reported.The clarification came after several students claimed on social media that the portal appeared to restrict payments to customers of the four public sector banks. In a statement posted on X, CBSE said the portal only uses payment gateways operated by these banks and does not require applicants to hold accounts with them.Also Read: Claude, other AI tools used to breach CBSE portals: IIT Panel“Candidates may use the available online payment options — UPI, net banking, credit card and debit card — through the designated gateways,” the board said.CBSE also said the portal continued to function smoothly despite a major cyberattack attempt on Tuesday, shortly after it went live. According to the board, the platform came under a barrage of denial-of-service attacks within minutes of its launch, receiving nearly 1.5 million hits in two minutes along with more than one lakh attempts at unauthorised file access.The board said its technical teams worked continuously to maintain the stability and security of the platform.“The portal has accepted 4,924 applications for verification and 39,056 applications for re-evaluation (total of 43,980) as of 12 noon today,” CBSE said.The board urged students to rely only on official CBSE communication for updates related to the process.Also Read: CBSE re-evaluation portal keeps lakhs of students guessingThe verification and re-evaluation window opened on June 2 for Class XII students who had earlier obtained scanned copies of their answer books evaluated under the board’s new digital On-Screen Marking (OMS) system.
As geopolitical headwinds make it tougher for equity investors to make money, Dalal Street’s top voice Nilesh Shah, managing director of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management, told a gathering of HNI investors at the ET Alpha Wealth Summit on Thursday that there are four specific investment structures which deserve a place in most portfolios right now.Shah’s first recommendation was the Special Investment Fund, or SIF, a structure that marks a meaningful shift in what is available to Indian investors. Shah noted that the mutual fund industry has, until now, been a long-only business but the SIF changes that. These are long-short, absolute return-oriented funds, designed to generate returns regardless of market direction rather than simply riding the equity tide.The second vehicle Shah flagged is performing credit AIFs. His reasoning was grounded in a simple supply-demand observation that for corporate settlements today, capital is not available from banks, mutual funds, or insurance companies.As institutional lenders have stepped back, borrowers are plenty and lenders very few. Amid this imbalance, Shah said the need is real and returns are attractive. Performing credit AIFs, which lend into this gap, are positioned to benefit directly from the scarcity of competing capital.https://youtube.com/shorts/Xa4AcXFg8hA?feature=shareThe third idea was REITs, and here Shah introduced a timing element. Over the last three years, REITs have delivered index-level returns of around 13.5%. But with interest rates rising, he suggested that the next six to nine months may present an opportunity to enter at better prices. Rising rates typically compress REIT valuations in the near term, and Shah framed any such correction as a potential entry point rather than a risk to avoid. Beyond the return potential, he positioned REITs as a portfolio diversification tool as the asset class behaves differently from equities and fixed income, and that is still underrepresented in most Indian investor portfolios.The fourth recommendation addressed global diversification but came with an important caveat. Mutual fund industry limits for overseas investment are currently full, which means the conventional route for Indian investors to access global markets through domestic mutual funds is closed. Shah pointed to Gift City as the workaround. Structures domiciled there allow investment under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, and in his view, these Gift City-based LRS products are the practical path for investors who want global exposure while the mutual fund window remains shut.Across all four — the SIF, performing credit AIFs, REITs, and Gift City products — Shah's underlying argument was the same: in a volatile period, the portfolio needs instruments that can generate positive returns through means other than a rising equity market.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
International brokerage firm UBS downgraded BHEL to "Neutral" from "Buy" rating, while raising its target price to Rs 460 from Rs 375, indicating a potential upside of 13.6%. In today’s session, the stock is up over 1% at Rs 411 on the BSE. UBS believes a significant portion of the company's order book expansion is already behind it and noted that competition has intensified over the last three years, with rivals such as L&T and Thermax displaying a stronger appetite for new orders. The brokerage said the stock's risk-reward profile has become more balanced after BHEL outperformed the Nifty by nearly 60% over the past 12 months. Despite the downgrade, UBS remains constructive on BHEL's long-term outlook. It expects a steady flow of orders from the thermal power and industrial segments and believes the company's multi-year revenue visibility does not warrant a "Sell" rating.The brokerage continues to hold earnings estimates above the Street's expectations and has raised its FY27 and FY28 earnings forecasts by 1-3%. It has also increased its valuation multiple to 28x from 25x, factoring in a meaningful ramp-up in execution and an improvement in gross margins. UBS further noted that the order book accumulated during FY23-FY26, when BHEL captured an estimated 75-80% market share, provides strong revenue visibility through FY30.Last month, the PSU company reported a whopping 156% surge in its consolidated net profit to Rs 1,290.50 crore for the January-March quarter of the financial year 2026. Sequentially, net profit saw a sharper rise of nearly 231% from the Rs 390.40 crore reported in the third quarter of the financial year 2026.BHEL’s revenue from operations meanwhile grew 37% YoY to Rs 12,310 crore in Q4 FY26, from Rs 8,993 crore in Q4 FY25. The company’s EBITDA more than doubled to Rs 2,005 crore during the quarter under review, from Rs 990 crore in the year-ago period.For the entire financial year 2026, BHEL saw its net profit surge 200% to Rs 1,600.26 crore, from Rs 533.90 crore in FY25. Revenue, meanwhile, grew 19% YoY to Rs 33,782 crore for the financial year, which ended on March 31, 2026.BHEL shares have risen 38% since the beginning of 2026 and about 50% in the last 1 year.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
The Indian rupee is trading around Rs. 95-96 to the dollar in late May 2026, setting fresh record lows. Markets are openly discussing the Rs. 100 threshold. The rupee has weakened in almost every year since 2014 and has lost approximately half its value against the dollar over that period. The end of this currency depreciation is not in sight. The factors that would stop it are not yet visible.The government is acting. State run oil companies have implemented four fuel price hikes in ten days as of May 25, taking petrol in Delhi past Rs. 102 per litre. This is the right and necessary response to the energy cost reality created by the Iran war. Crucially, the Modi government has also done its part on the macroeconomic front, consistently and aggressively reducing the fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP to maintain structural stability.Yet, the currency pressure persists. The energy price impact has not yet fully reached Indian consumers and supply chains. It is coming.Uday Kotak said it plainly at the CII Annual Business Summit on May 12: "Be ready for tough times rather than waiting for the shock to hit us." He was right.Also read | Manufactured monopoly: How industrial policy is structuring monopolies in IndiaThis is not a time to panic. But it is a time to act. The leaders who move now will have options. Those who wait will not.The Overriding Factor: The Psychology of the PlayersWhy is the currency declining despite strong domestic fiscal discipline? Because exchange rates are not driven by mathematical models alone. The currency decline is highly affected—and accelerated—by the psychology of all players engaged in this endeavor.Currency movements are deeply behavioral. When a currency visualizes a downward trend, psychology shifts from calculation to self-protection and speculation. Every player in the ecosystem operates under this psychological weight:Corporate CFOs and Treasurers: Instead of hedging normally, they rush to cover future dollar liabilities early, hoarding hard currency and inadvertently worsening the scarcity.Foreign Investors: They begin to judge their returns not by the quality of Indian business operations, but by the eroding value of the conversion rate.Importers and Exporters: Importers advance their payments to avoid paying more tomorrow; exporters delay converting their dollar earnings back into rupees, waiting for a "better" rate. This collective psychology creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.Investors, CFOs, and FDI decision makers extrapolate what is happening now into the future. When they see a currency that has lost approximately half its value since 2014 with no clear floor in sight, their psychological pivot alters market realities.Also read | India tightens checks on overseas flows as currency pressure mounts, sources sayThe cascading timeline of Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) equity behavior perfectly mirrors this psychological shift from rational evaluation to systemic risk aversion:2024 (The Calculation Phase): Rupee averages Rs. 83-84. FPI flows remain positive (+$12 billion) as investors trade on strong domestic corporate earnings.2025 (The Self-Protection Phase): Rupee slides past Rs. 89. Collective psychology shifts to risk mitigation. FPIs withdraw a record $18.4 billion from Indian equities—the largest annual equity outflow on record.Early 2026 (The Capitulation Phase): Rupee breaks past Rs. 95. Sentiment turns into an outright exit strategy. In the first four months of 2026 alone, outflows have already reached $19.1 billion, completely bypassing the entire previous year's record loss in a fraction of the time.FDI agreements are being signed, but capital is delayed because players are psychologically hesitant to deploy funds into a depreciating asset.The Trap of Hard Currency Debt: A Broken Business Model There is a highly significant and dangerous phenomenon unfolding in India today that requires immediate exposure. For years, a specific class of Indian corporates adopted a regular strategy of borrowing heavily in hard currency (External Commercial Borrowings, or ECBs). Lured by low nominal global interest rates, several of these companies over borrowed, treating cheap dollar debt as a permanent structural advantage.Today, that strategy has become a trap. The compounding effect of a depreciating rupee, skyrocketing hedging costs, and brutal refinancing realities is fundamentally breaking their business models.Consider the mechanics of this crisis:The Hedging Penalty: Leaving dollar debt unhedged is now corporate roulette. However, buying hedges at current rupee levels has become structurally prohibitive. The cost of protection completely wipes out any interest rate advantage.The Refinancing Wall: Billions in foreign debt are coming due. These over-borrowed companies must now refinance their liabilities at a time when the rupee value has materially deteriorated. They are effectively forced to borrow far more rupees just to pay back the same amount of original dollars.The Crushing Cost of Rupee Capital: As these companies try to pivot back to domestic lenders, they face a severe escalation in their rupee cost of capital.The Growth Verdict: When your cost of capital spikes and your cash flows are consumed by servicing legacy dollar debt, future growth stops. Capital expenditure (CapEx) plans are being frozen. These companies can no longer invest in innovation, capacity, or market expansion. Their business model shifts overnight from aggressive value creation to basic survival. Boards must realize that this is not a temporary treasury headache; it is a structural threat to the company’s future viability.India's forex reserves stand at approximately 10 to 11 months of import cover. Substantial, but being actively deployed to defend the currency. Some imports are non-negotiable: oil, critical inputs, components. These will now cost more. That cost passes through every supply chain.Six Actions for Business Leaders1. Protect your cash and liquidity first. This is the most immediate priority. Map your cash position today. Identify every source of liquidity across the next twelve months. Stress-test it at Rs. 100 and beyond. Which receivables are at risk? Which credit lines are rupee-denominated and which are not? Companies that run into a cash crisis during a currency depreciation cycle lose their options entirely. The CFO must own this analysis and present it to the board within days, not weeks.2. Act now on your foreign currency borrowings, hedging, and refinancing. Do not assume the rupee will recover to Rs. 80. Analyse your full foreign currency exposure across the next three years: every loan, every refinancing date, every hedging contract, every procurement price denominated in foreign currency. Hard currency loans now face refinancing at rupee values that have materially deteriorated. Model every scenario at Rs. 100 and beyond. Your CFO, treasury, and procurement team must be aligned on one instruction: do not run into a liquidity crisis. This analysis must happen now, not at the next quarterly review.3. Build a war room. Most companies have begun thinking about war rooms for supply chain disruptions. Expand the mandate. Currency exposure belongs in the same room. Which of your costs are dollar or euro denominated? Which of your revenues are rupee denominated? Where is the mismatch? What is your break-even exchange rate? If you do not have clear answers today, you are exposed. The war room is not a committee. It is a real-time decision environment with live data, a clear owner, and the authority to act.4. Use the currency depreciation advantage: double your export salesforce. A weaker rupee makes Indian exports more competitive. This window will not stay open indefinitely. Double the salesforce in your export markets now. Use this period to upgrade quality, improve service delivery, and build customer relationships that will last beyond the currency advantage. Indian exporters who invest in capability during this period will emerge stronger regardless of what the rupee does next. Those who simply ride the price advantage without building the underlying business will lose when conditions change.5. Watch your stock and your sector. Banks and financial institutions should already be on high alert. Companies with large foreign currency exposure will see pressure on their financials. Some stock prices are already reflecting this. Go through your sector company by company. Identify who is most exposed. If you are an investor or a lender, this analysis is not optional. The combination of currency depreciation, rising oil prices, and FPI outflows creates a compounding pressure that will surface in earnings before it surfaces in headlines.6. Cut costs aggressively. AI will help. There has never been more urgency to reduce costs than now. And there has never been a better tool to do it. AI can cut most operational costs by as much as 30% across functions: procurement, finance, customer service, logistics, and compliance. McKinsey data confirms companies adopting AI and automation reduce operational costs by 20 to 30 percent. This is not a future opportunity. It is a present imperative. Every rupee of cost removed through AI is a rupee that does not need to be recovered through revenue in a deteriorating currency environment. Start now with your highest-cost functions.The CFO as CaptainCurrency risk is a cash flow risk. Every function that touches foreign currency—procurement, treasury, sales, capex planning— must now report into a single coordinating authority. That authority is the CFO. This is not about hierarchy. It is about clarity. In a currency crisis, fragmented decision-making is as dangerous as wrong decision making. One captain. One consolidated view. Weekly reviews minimum.The Bigger PictureThis currency depreciation is a structural signal, not a cyclical one. India's economy must move from a cheap labour advantage to genuine global value creation.The companies that will survive and thrive are those building products and services that command premium prices in global markets. The rupee's weakness is a reminder that competing on cost alone has limits.The recently concluded trade agreements are a genuine opportunity. Execute them with full force. Build the export pipelines. Add the sales capacity.The businesses that move now, with discipline and clarity, will manage market psychology, navigate the debt trap, and define the next chapter of Indian industry.The shock is coming. Prepare before it arrives.Ram Charan is the author of China’s 90% model. It is restricting India’s industrial progress. Former Director of Hindalco and Muyuan (China).
Kolkata Mayor and Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Firhad Hakim has resigned from his post after receiving permission from party supremo Mamata Banerjee, senior TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said on Wednesday, amid deepening turmoil within the opposition party following its electoral defeat in West Bengal.The announcement came as the TMC grappled with its most serious internal crisis since losing power, with a large section of its legislators openly rebelling against the party leadership and seeking a reorganisation of the legislature wing.Also read: TMC crisis deepens as Mamata loyalists attend BJP-led review meetingThe political churn was visible on Wednesday when Hakim, along with TMC MLAs Nayana Bandyopadhyay, Ashok Deb and Kunal Ghosh, attended an administrative review meeting convened by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari at Nabanna, a development that added a fresh dimension to the ongoing unrest within the party, PTI reported.The attendance of several leaders considered close to Banerjee at the government meeting came even as the party's legislative wing appeared headed for an unprecedented split.Rebels stake claim to legislature leadershipHours earlier, 58 dissident TMC MLAs formally extended support to expelled legislator Ritabrata Banerjee as the new leader of the legislature party and conveyed their decision to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose, according to PTI.Ritabrata Banerjee, accompanied by fellow rebel MLA Sandipan Saha and other dissident legislators, met the Speaker and submitted letters of support purportedly signed by 58 MLAs.The rebel faction also proposed a new leadership structure, naming Ritabrata Banerjee as legislature party leader, Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha and Shiuli Saha as deputy leaders, and Raghunathganj MLA Akhruzzaman as the chief whip.Ritabrata Banerjee, Khan and Saha were also present at the chief minister's administrative review meeting later in the day.The developments followed a gathering of dissident legislators at the Assembly earlier on Wednesday. Significantly, none of the MLAs who attended the rebels' meeting had participated in Mamata Banerjee's dharna in central Kolkata on Tuesday, highlighting the growing divide between the party leadership and the dissident bloc.Also read: TMC rebels back expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee as legislature party leader in BengalPolitical signals from administrative meetingsSeveral leaders identified with the Kalighat leadership, including Hakim, Bandyopadhyay, Deb and Ghosh, skipped the Assembly meeting and instead attended the Nabanna review meeting.The latest development comes days after senior TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and six party MLAs attended an administrative review meeting chaired by Adhikari in Kalyani, triggering speculation over shifting political equations within the opposition camp after the assembly election setback.Political observers told PTI that with another set of TMC leaders attending Wednesday's meeting, the line between administrative engagement and political messaging was becoming increasingly blurred in West Bengal's evolving post-election landscape.The BJP government has maintained that such meetings are inclusive administrative exercises. During the previous TMC regime, BJP leaders had often alleged that opposition legislators were excluded from official review meetings.Soon after assuming office, Adhikari announced that opposition MPs and MLAs would be invited to government programmes and district-level administrative review meetings.Also read: TMC dissolves West Bengal units, launches overhaul after poll drubbingParty debates participationReacting to the participation of TMC legislators in such meetings last week, Kunal Ghosh had said the matter was being discussed within the party."We are not in favour of boycotting administrative meetings called by the state government. But when our party workers are being assaulted and rendered homeless in post-poll violence, we need to think twice before attending such meetings. Our party is also discussing whether we should continue participating in these meetings or not," he had said.The ongoing turmoil comes against the backdrop of the TMC's crushing assembly election defeat and growing uncertainty over the party's future leadership structure.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the biggest tournament in soccer history, spread across 16 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. For millions of fans, getting to the games may prove almost as challenging as the matches themselves.With airfares climbing, gasoline prices rising and airport security lines stretching patience to the limit, North America's rail and bus operators see the month-long tournament as a rare opportunity: a chance to persuade travelers to swap planes and cars for trains, buses and public transit.For transportation providers, the World Cup is more than a sporting spectacle. It is a high-stakes audition before a global audience."We want you to be able to use our system seamlessly from the minute you decide to come to the World Cup, all the way into the games, and after that to get home," said Conan Cheung, chief operations officer for LA Metro, the public transportation authority serving the Los Angeles region.Los Angeles, which will host eight matches including the U.S. team's opening game, hopes the tournament will help reshape perceptions of a city often synonymous with traffic jams and sprawling freeways.For Cheung, the objective extends beyond impressing foreign visitors. The World Cup is also an opportunity to convince more Angelenos to embrace a public transportation system that has expanded significantly in recent years.That challenge resonates across much of the United States and Canada, where public transit networks are often less extensive than those found in Europe or Asia and where private vehicles remain the preferred mode of transport."Transit providers have an opportunity to provide service to a group of people who do not typically use transit on a day-to-day basis," said Yonah Freemark, a principal research associate at the Washington-based Urban Institute."Many of the World Cup fans coming from the U.S. or Canada do not necessarily use transit services regularly."The impressions those travelers form during the tournament could have lasting consequences."They should be making sure that the services they provide are high quality and not too expensive, because the people who are riding them are going to form an impression of those transit agencies — and there's a chance to really prove that they can provide a good service," Freemark said.Opportunity meets realityYet attracting new riders may prove easier than accommodating them.The World Cup's 104 matches will unfold across four time zones and thousands of miles, placing enormous demands on transportation networks already operating close to capacity.Ground transportation companies are eager to capitalize on soaring airline costs, but many are also wrestling with higher operating expenses of their own, particularly fuel prices.That leaves operators balancing competing priorities: attracting new customers while avoiding disruptions or price increases that could alienate the commuters who rely on them every day.For intercity bus giant FlixBus, the tournament represents a significant growth opportunity.Together with sister brand Greyhound, the company operates one of North America's largest transportation networks and says demand between host cities is already accelerating, with some departures sold out and others filling rapidly.Ahead of the tournament, the company has invested heavily in new buses and technology while placing renewed emphasis on punctuality."What is critical here is every Flix experience needs to be a happy one. That's how we actually grow our business. And this is a great opportunity," said Flix North America CEO Kai Boysan."We will welcome all the new customers and we want them to see what a change we've done and what a great experience they're going to have."Boysan believes buses are well-positioned to benefit from frustrations increasingly associated with air travel."Airports are congested and the costs are rising. And clearly travelers are naturally looking for alternatives. And there we come into effect," he said.The price problemWhile operators hope to lure travelers away from planes, some transit agencies have faced criticism for sharply increasing fares during the tournament.Few examples generated more backlash than New Jersey Transit, whose train service between Manhattan and MetLife Stadium — venue for eight matches including the July 19 final — initially carried a round-trip fare of $150 for a journey that normally costs less than $13.NJ Transit argued that the increase was necessary to cover approximately $48 million in additional costs related to security, crowd management and World Cup operations.Public criticism forced a rethink.The agency subsequently lowered the fare to $98 after securing additional advertising revenue, while shuttle bus prices on the same route were cut to $20 from the originally proposed $80 after organizers arranged additional capacity through local school buses.Boston has also announced higher event-day transportation prices. Round-trip rail tickets between downtown Boston and the stadium hosting seven World Cup matches will cost $80, compared with the usual $20 to $30, while a bus ride will cost $95.The fare hikes have drawn criticism from politicians, including U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer."Charging more than 11 times the normal fare for a train ride is a ripoff, plain and simple. FIFA is making billions from this World Cup," Schumer said after the original New Jersey fare was announced."FIFA should cover the ride, not stick New York fans with the bill."FIFA has countered that high transit costs could encourage fans to seek alternative ways to reach stadiums and noted that comparable international sporting events have generally not required organizers to fund transportation impacts.Different approachesNot every city has opted for higher prices.In Los Angeles, riders heading to World Cup matches will pay standard fares."Our regular fare is $1.75, so people will be able to pay that," said Cheung. "We will honor all of the discounts we have."Philadelphia is going a step further.Fans attending matches in the city will pay just $2.90 to travel to the stadium by train and receive a free ride home, courtesy of tournament sponsor Airbnb.National rail operator Amtrak is also preparing for increased demand as supporters move between host cities throughout the month-long competition."We are fully committed to running a world-class railroad ... and ensuring our infrastructure is ready to accommodate new and returning guests," said W. Kyle Anderson, Amtrak's director of communications.For transportation providers across North America, the World Cup offers a fleeting but valuable chance to showcase what their systems can do.The tournament will crown a world champion on the field. Away from the stadiums, trains, buses and transit networks will be competing in a contest of their own — to convince millions of travelers that public transportation can be fast, reliable and worth returning to long after the final whistle.
The shares of Vodafone Idea sharply surged nearly 7% to a new 52-week high of Rs 15.09 apiece on the NSE on Wednesday, even as the Sensex and Nifty crashed, as multiple tailwinds boosted investor sentiment for the telecom major.The stock has rallied 46% in one month and a whopping 121% in one year. The company currently has a market capitalisation of more than Rs 1.62 lakh crore.ICRA upgrades Vodafone Idea’s rating, revises outlookRatings agency ICRA upgraded Vodafone Idea’s rating to A- from its earlier BBB rating and revised its outlook on the company’s long-term fund-based loans worth Rs 727 crore to ‘Stable’ from ‘Positive’. ICRA said that the rating upgrade was driven by a change in rating approach for Vodafone Idea to factor in support from promoter Aditya Birla Group, which was further strengthened with the re‑appointment of Kumar Mangalam Birla as the Chairman of the board and with the proposed equity infusion of approximately Rs 4,730 crore through a preferential allotment of warrants to a promoter group entity in May 2026. “These developments reflect strong confidence in Vi’s potential and long-term growth trajectory. The Aditya Birla Group has expressed its continued support to Vodafone Idea to ensure timely debt servicing and to ensure continuity of operations and improvement in its market position. The Aditya Birla Group has been consistent in providing operational and financial support to Vi and will continue to do so going forward. Further, the Group’s brand equity and market position provided Vi with assistance in Government engagement and higher financial flexibility,” it added.ICRA also highlighted the revision of Vodafone Idea’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. In May, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) cut Vodafone Idea's AGR dues by 27% to Rs 64,046 crore as of December 31. This revision significantly alleviates the company’s liability burden and enhances cash flow visibility, the ratings agency said, adding that these will provide a push to the telco’s capex plans.Citi removes ‘High Risk’ rating on Vodafone Idea sharesCiti removed its 'High Risk' rating on the stock and raised its target price to Rs 17, implying an upside potential of more than 20% from the previous closing price. In its latest note, Citi Research changed its rating on Vodafone Idea shares to ‘Buy’ from ‘Buy-High Risk’, citing several tailwinds, including the government’s recent reassessment of AGR dues, rating upgrades, equity infusion by the Aditya Birla Group, and other factors into consideration.The brokerage, however, flagged key risks to its bullish view, including delays in bank funding, intensifying competition that could limit future tariff hikes, continued subscriber churn, and slower-than-expected growth in 4G and 5G users.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader G Parameshwara will be the new Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, official sources said here on Wednesday.Parameshwara will take the oath of office and secrecy after CM-designate D K Shivakumar takes oath, they said.Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot will administer the oath at 4.05 pm to Shivakumar and other MLAs at Lok Bhavan Glass House.Parameshwara, who had served as Home Minister in the Siddaramaiah-led government, held the position of deputy chief minister in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government under Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy from May 2018 to July 2019.A prominent Dalit leader, Parameshwara served a record eight years consecutively as President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) between 2010 and 2018.Meanwhile, Shivakumar and Parameshwara met Siddaramaiah at his residence and expressed their gratitude, the outgoing CM's office said in a statement.Both the leaders invited Siddaramaiah for the swearing-in ceremony and he congratulated them and extended his best wishes.
Mumbai: With a market capitalisation of over $5 trillion, South Korea has become the sixth largest equity market in the world, replacing India which has a market cap of $4.8 trillion, according to the data from Bloomberg.Earlier, in the last week of May, Taiwan had jumped ahead of India after crossing $5 trillion in market cap.131473576The two Asian markets are in a bull phase, helped by record financial performance from semiconductor manufacturers amid booming demand from the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem. South Korean equities have gained 88% in 2026 so far while Taiwan has expanded market cap by 58%. India's market cap, on the other hand, has fallen by over 8% since the beginning of the current calendar year, impacted by heavy selling from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) amid geopolitical uncertainties in West Asia. They have sold equities worth $24 billion (₹2.2 lakh crore) in the first five months of 2026 compared with $18.9 billion (₹1.7 lakh crore) in the whole of 2025.Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, South Korea's two largest companies by market cap, have led the current rally in local equity markets with a year-to-date gain of 182% and 231% on bourses. The Asian semiconductor companies are benefitting from the rising AI capital expenditure since memory chips are a part of the building blocks of the technology.
The S&P 500 and the Dow closed modestly higher on Tuesday as risk appetite driven by AI fervor was counterbalanced by tensions arising from U.S.-Iran talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the months-long war.Gains in most of the 11 major S&P sectors kept the S&P 500 and the Dow in the green, with the small-cap Russell 2000 outperforming its larger-cap peers. The Nasdaq ended the session essentially unchanged.Small-cap stocks have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of the ongoing enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence stocks, which provided some upside muscle. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index advanced on the day.The Software & Services Index, battered in recent months over worries of AI disruption, closed in negative territory.Strong results from Hewlett Packard Enterprise and a funding commitment from Alphabet reinforced confidence in the AI buildout."The market is kind of muted at the surface level, but there is a lot going on under the hood, and that describes much of this year," said Mike Dickson, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina. "There's some massive dispersion in the whole AI infrastructure ecosystem.""Markets could be in for one of these heated, melt-up rallies where the momentum keeps winning," Dickson added. "I would not be surprised at all to be sitting here at the end of the summer a good bit higher."Tehran is studying a U.S. proposal to bring the war to a halt, but has not been in contact with Washington for days, according to Iranian media, which also said Iran is taking a "stern" approach, given what it views as a history of U.S. noncompliance and mutual distrust. Simultaneously, Israel is continuing its strikes on Lebanon, despite Tehran's warnings that the attacks are threatening to derail the fragile truce.The war has sent crude prices soaring, reviving worries over inflation and giving rise to an increasing likelihood that the U.S. Federal Reserve could hike interest rates by year-end. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said on Tuesday that such a hike could become necessary if already-elevated inflation pressures continue to mount. On the economic front, a report from the Labor Department showed an unexpected spike in job openings, driven by the volatile professional and business services sector. Otherwise, hiring, firing and quits all decreased, suggesting a slowdown in labor market churn in the face of uncertainties related to strife in the Middle East and inflationary effects.Analysts look to the May employment report due on Friday, which is expected to show the U.S. economy added 85,000 jobs last month, a monthly deceleration of 26.1%. The unemployment rate is forecast to stand pat at 4.3%.According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 10.07 points, or 0.13%, to end at 7,610.03 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 8.78 points, or 0.03%, to 27,095.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 237.13 points, or 0.46%, to 51,316.01.Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped after the AI server maker pulled forward its long-term financial targets by two years. In further evidence of AI buildout, Alphabet said it was looking to raise $80 billion in equity offerings, including an investment from Berkshire Hathaway, to fund a costly expansion of its AI infrastructure. Its shares lost ground on the day. Marvell Technology's shares surged after Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang called the chipmaker the next "trillion-dollar company" at the Computex conference in Taipei. Nvidia invested $2 billion in Marvell in March.A drop in bitcoin hit cryptocurrency firms Coinbase and Strategy Inc.Broadcom is expected to report quarterly results on Wednesday.
It’s easy to understand why so many graduates are booing commencement speakers who tell them how great AI is. They face a brutal job market, with unemployment for recent college graduates nearing recession levels, and AI is often cited as the reason they can’t find jobs or have to drastically reassess their career plans.I have a message for the class of 2026: AI is not ruining your job prospects, at least not yet. A better explanation for the tough job market may be the prevalence of WFH, not the rise of AI.131463654Two new studies, one from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and one from the London School of Economics, look at the recent rise in unemployment among young workers. The authors of the LSE study looked at 243 million new hires and 407 million online job postings from 2017 to 2025 in the US, UK, Australia and Canada. They observed a notable decline since 2022 in the hiring of new graduates. AI was presumed to be the reason, since the falloff tends to be in the sort of industries that are adopting AI.But these are also the same kinds of jobs — reliant on computers, knowledge-intensive, white-collar — that are most amenable to working from home. When they controlled for WFH, the authors found that the impact of AI on hiring was negligible.The study postulates that where WFH is more common, managing junior staff is more expensive. At the same time, young staffers who receive less training may be less productive than they would be otherwise, even as they mature and demand more pay. So the cost of WFH to young graduates is not just a harder job market — it also makes it harder for young employees to get good training, supervision and mentorship, a point also made by the New York Fed study.WFH has always had a superficial appeal. At first, it seems easier and often cheaper for both employers and employees; companies can pay less if they offer more flexibility, and many staffers have commitments that keep them at home. In the long term, however, both management and workers pay a price in terms of lost training and career development of younger employees.This could get even worse as AI is more widely adopted. New hires recently out of college who work on their own may figure out how to do specific tasks (perhaps with AI assistance), but they won’t learn much about how to manage office politics, charm clients or build networks. All these skills will be even more valuable in an AI job market, and none can be gained without coming into the office and observing senior colleagues.The new research doesn’t argue that AI will have no impact on hiring in the future, or that it is currently affecting hiring decisions. It’s also worth noting that many firms are still hiring — just not as much as before. There are a lot of factors that go into the health of the labor market, and if the economy worsens, the combination of AI and WFH could make it even harder for young graduates.What does seem clear is that AI is becoming a convenient villain for a lot of complaints people have about the economy. Tech executives aren’t helping by regularly declaring that AI can replace a lot of jobs. More likely, they are using AI as an excuse when they are letting people go for financial reasons. In the case of WFH, it may be easier to blame AI than to ask reluctant staff to come into the office.I’ve seen this reluctance firsthand: A few years ago I met middle-aged media executive who told me how much she loved working from home (or, often in her case, from a resort in Mexico). When I asked her about junior staffers missing out on mentoring and on-the-job training, she admitted she never would have succeeded if senior people weren’t in the office when she was coming up. But she didn’t seem too bothered by it, either.I’ve never been asked to give a commencement speech, but if for some reason I were, this would be my advice: Find a company where everyone likes going to work. Then try to get a job there — and if you do, go into the office every day.
India's first AI-powered music company PaRa Music launched on Tuesday, offering a model designed to help original Indian music reach larger audiences across the country and worldwide, but does not create its own music.The music venture combines human-created music with proprietary AI-led market intelligence to guide catalogue development, distribution, and monetisation of music. It is backed by a funding from a consortium of angel and institutional investors led by Apollo Growth Capital and plans to build a catalogue of 40,000 songs over the next four years across film and non-film music, spanning Hindi and regional languages.Tapping one of the world’s largest music markets, PaRa is aiming to bridge the gap between audience demand and effective discovery, particularly for regional and non-film music. With the industry projected to reach Rs 7,500 crore in 2028, estimates point to continued expansion in both streaming and recorded music revenues.Para Music has deployed a model "ParaMeter" as its in-house AI Chief of Music Intelligence who does not create music.This AI brain analyses audience signals across platforms and geographies to identify emerging demand, guide investment decisions, and support smarter catalogue and release strategies. The approach is intended to improve discovery and market fit while keeping music creation firmly in the hands of artists, composers, and songwriters.The venture is planning to build its business around the premise that original Indian music should have a stronger path to audience reach and long-term monetisation. It combines human creativity, institutional capital with data-led decision-making to support catalogue creation, targeted distribution, and diversified revenue opportunities for creators and rights holders.It further aims to partner with central and state governments to support music-led cultural, creative, and economic initiatives across India.PaRa Music is entering a broader market in which music rights and catalogues are increasingly viewed as long-term assets, with global investment activity expanding across recorded music and related rights. It adds volume to India’s national music arena through a technology-led approach and a professional team aiming to build Indian music IP for the world, ensuring creators achieve stronger commercial outcomes and capture greater long-term value.“India has one of the world’s richest and most diverse music ecosystems, yet much of its potential remains untapped. PaRa Music was founded to unlock this opportunity through technology, data, and strategic investment in Music IP," said founder Rashna Pochkhanawala.As the global recorded music market moves towards $200 billion by 2035, Pochkhanawala believes that India is poised to become a major growth engine.“We rarely encounter opportunities where a large market, a proven business model, and exceptional leadership converge so clearly. India’s music economy is entering a period of unprecedented growth, and we believe Music IP will be one of the defining asset classes of the next decade," said Johri, Company Spokesperson - Apollo Growth Capital.