Currency Crisis: Government Eases Norms Further, Tata Motors' Neutral Move And Other India News

Damage-control mode: Growing anger among people over limited cash availability in the country has forced the government to switch to damage-control mode.  In its latest attempt to pacify the people, the government has waived e-transaction and ATM fee. Not only this, the government also increased supply of cash to post offices to ease cash flow across the country. Apart from this, current account holders can now withdraw 50,000 rupees per week – a move to make life better for small businesses. But only time will tell if all these steps will help calm down the panic-stricken people of the country who have begun to consider this period no less than a catastrophic phase.

GST update: The Centre will share the redrafted model Goods and Services Tax law with the states today. The new draft was created after “taking into account the comments of stakeholders.” As it is determined to roll out the law by April 1 next year, the Centre is also working on “horizontal” and “vertical” division for deciding on jurisdiction over tax assesses. In its last meeting, the Centre and the states agreed on a four-tier GST rates – 5, 12, 18 and 28%. But they are yet to decide on a way to avoid dual control.

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Air India, which reported an operating profit of about 1 billion rupees during FY16, in what was seen as early signs of a turnaround, also managed to increase its revenue per regular employee by over 12% to 11 million rupees in the year.

Power struggle: There is a new twist in the ongoing power struggle within India’s largest conglomerate, the Tata Group. The independent directors of Tata Motors expressed their support for board Chairman Cyrus Mistry. Although the chairman and the company management’s strategy, they did not pick side, stopping short of giving the ousted Tata Sons chairman a unanimous public endorsement. Earlier, Mistry won the support of the independent directors of the Indian Hotels Company and Tata Chemicals. There seems no end in sight for the Tata-Mistry spat, with the episode already having tainted the image of one of the most prestigious business groups of the country. (Pic credit: Business Standard)

Freedom of a kind: Internet freedom in the country has declined, negating gains made in 2014 and 2015, according to a report by US-based think tank “Freedom on the Net 2016.” Only last year, India beat the US to become the world’s second largest internet consumer base. Although government as well as non-governmental bodies have tried to bridge the digital divide in India, rising internet shutdowns and digital message-related arrests undermined the efforts.  

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