Business Today 18 December 2016

Over two weeks into the demonetisation exercise, quite a few things are becoming clearer, though other things remain to be resolved. The first thing that is becoming increasingly apparent is that the government may have thought through the exercise to try and minimise loopholes that people could exploit, but it certainly did not think hard enough of the execution. After a fortnight, there still isn't enough cash in banks and currency withdrawal limits remain. ATMS are finally being recalibrated but it will still be at least two more weeks before you can walk into an ATM and withdraw cash as easily as how you could before November 8. Similarly, it will take a few more months to print enough notes for smooth functioning. Finally, there have been myriad changes in…

Well-scrutinised The Great Indian Vanishing Trick (December 4) was a multi-pronged scrutiny of the acclaimed strategic display of demonetisation of high-value notes for tackling black money and counterfeit currency issues. But it was a curate’s egg with poor advanced planning to tide over contingencies, missing road-map for implementation, inept handling at all levels, capricious announcements, confusing restraints, and detestable self-satisfaction of the Centre. Shrouded in secrecy to impede its own velocity of operations, the Centre was unmindful of the deprived lot and the middle class, though they are thus far votaries of the scheme! Abolition of black money is a global phenomenon and is the Holy Grail of any government, but the NDA government is behaving pompously as if this is its own finding, and has unilaterally transformed the given…

QUOTE “Ratan Tata once tried to sell Tata Consultancy Services, now the cash cow of the Tata Group to IBM Corp.” – Cyrus Mistry, the ousted Tata Group chief claimed in a statement. However, TCS founding CEO, F.C. Kohli, refuted Mistry's claims. The ugly spat between Mystry and Tata has been all about allegations and counter allegations, and is headed for an even uglier end THE RICH GETS RICHER India's richest 1 per cent now owns 58.4 per cent of the country’s wealth, compared to 40.3 per cent in 2010, says a report from Credit Suisse Group AG. The richest 10 per cent of Indians also increased their share of wealth from 68.8 per cent to 80.7 per cent during the period. The bottom half of Indians own only 2.1…

01 SMART SOLUTIONS WHAT: M-Commerce Summit WHEN: December 1, Mumbai WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The CII event will invite key stakeholders, including representatives of the ministry, regulatory bodies, corporate India and the mobile-commerce industry, to discuss policy challenges, growth and bottlenecks, and how to build partnerships to further scale up the industry, given rising smartphone penetration 02 SAFETY FIRST WHAT: Third Party Risk Management: 2020 and Beyond WHEN: December 2, Hyderabad WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The Nasscom event will focus on key areas of emerging risks due to increased reliance on outsource service providers. It will provide independent, practical advice and insight into future trends, form strategies and initiatives, and exchange best practices with real-world case studies 02 FROM FIELDS TO TABLE WHAT: FoodCon 2016 WHEN: December 2, Chennai WHAT…

23.2% of GDP in 2007 is the size of shadow economy (estimated by World Bank in July 2010) 28 CRORE Total value of counterfeit/ fake currency notes in 2016 up to September Source: Lok Sabha TOP CASHLESS COUNTRIES India does a staggering 98 per cent transactions in cash Cashless transactions (%) 79 CRORE Value of frauds in 2015/16. Credit cards account for 58% of the total frauds followed by 39% ATM/Debit card frauds and 3% internet banking frauds Source: Lok Sabha CASH-TO-GDP RATIO (%) Importance of cash is evident from India's cash-to-GDP ratio. It's much higher than most other economies Source: Kenneth S. Rogoff, The Curse of Cash COST OF DEMONETISATION It adds up to 1.28 lakh crore over 50 days Figures in crore; Households include cost of mandays and…

Corporate India has been on a shopping spree of a different kind – share buybacks. Between April and October, 19 buyback offers were made – the highest in the last two fiscal years – according to Prime Database. Things looked more impressive in terms of the amount raised through buybacks – a massive 26,353 crore, the highest in over a decade. The capital markets have witnessed a bull run, touching highs in September, but with frequent volatility spoiling the mood of investors. It gained almost 11 per cent between April and October. The buyback of shares has only propped up the markets further. But what prompted an increase in the number of buybacks, which is a likely phenomenon of a bear market? Says Pranav Haldea, Managing Director, Prime Database: “The…