Editorial - Bizsol Update

The Indian rupee was trading all time low against the mighty US Dollar. The Indian Rupee was all time low of ~ Rs 82 per dollar. The jury is out to comment on whether the weaker rupee is good for Indian economy or not. While a weaker rupee has its negative impact on the forex reserves of India, it has positive impact on the exporters. As we are a net importer country, particularly due to huge import of oil, the weaker rupee directly hurts the pocket of common Indians like you and me. If we look at the performance of other currencies as a comparable, the Indian rupee is still holding its ground. While the euro and yen, two of the world’s most traded currencies, are at multi-decade lows, the spillover in emerging market economies like India is imminent. The rate hike by Federal Reserve in US is further adding fuel to the problem. The interest rates are hiked in US to tame the US inflation, but it is having negative impact on the emerging economies like India. With every hike, there is outflow by FIIs from the Indian markets further reducing the Dollar inflow in India. The RBI on the other hand, pumped billions of dollars in the market to support the Indian Rupee. This has resulted into dwindling of Forex Reserves of India. Lot of experts says, the efforts taken by the RBI to stabilize the Rupee may not yield benefits immediately as long as the external environment remains hostile. The only silver lining in this rout is India’s own consumption and service exports. Both these factors are ensuring that India moves forward in this volatile environment. FDI’s are coming in India more than earlier, curtesy India’s image as one of the preferred investment destinations. This is also helping us to move forward in these troubled times. Let’s hope, the external environments like Russia-Ukraine War, China Covid disruptions, US inflation are addressed so that emerging economies like India can further rise on the horizon.

While we are discussing on how Rupee will impact our pockets, someone from India, who is making news around the world. In the early years of his life, he dropped out of a college and decided to pursue his entrepreneurial goals. In the early 1980s, he took his chance in Mumbai’s diamond sector after dropping out of college. Soon he joined his brother’s business in Gujarat and created a mammoth empire over the period of years spanning from businesses that include port management, electric power generation and transmission, renewable energy, mining, airport operations, natural gas, food processing and infrastructure. Yes, I am talking about Mr. Gautam Adani! Mr. Adani has briefly rose to position of 2nd richest person on the world behind Elon Musk leaving behind the likes of Bezos, Gates and Buffets. While, we read this, Adani, is world’s third-richest person after a surge in the stock prices of several companies he owns through his Adani Group business empire. What is more interesting is the speed at which his wealth surged over past couple of years. His rise one of the top 3 richest persons is astonishing and like fairytale for many. Taking aside some of the unsubstantiated allegations leveled, we, Indians, should be proud of him.

While we are busy in hustle-bustle of our daily life, NASA along with other international partners undertook an experiment in Space, the DART experiment. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was aimed at testing a method of planetary defense against near-Earth objects like Asteroids. Studies has concluded that impact of asteroid on earth is devastating. Some evidence suggests an asteroid impact was the main culprit for disappearance of dinosaurs from earth. We cannot even imagine what will be impact on our lives, if any asteroid hits us. It is estimated that there are billions of asteroids in the Space which are moving. Few of them may hit our mother Earth. Considering this constant threat, NASA has undertaken DART experiment to explore whether we can change the course of an asteroid coming towards Earth. To test this, the DART spacecraft i.e., an impactor, with a mass of 610 kg (1,340 lb) which was hosted on a no scientific payload (rocket). The spacecraft hit Dimorphos, an asteroid, in the direction opposite to the asteroid's motion. Following the impact, the orbital speed of Dimorphos is expected to have dropped slightly, which would be expected to have the effect of reducing the radius of its orbit around Didymos (another asteroid around which the Dimorphos is circulating). Further, it is expected that due to the impact, the trajectory of Didymos could also be modified. Whether this experiment was a success? Experts, says hitting to the target was a success. Now whether the impact has changed the directions / speed. For this we will have to wait for some time. This whole test reminded us of the sci-fi Hollywood movie, Armageddon in which earth was saved from an asteroid. We, the human race, should pray that this experiment becomes a success so that in near future, we are equipped to handle interplanetary threats.

Post this interesting Space experiment, lets come to India. Indian political drama is nothing less than a thriller movie wherein we are greeted with surprises. Since last week, Indian Congress is in news for all the wrong reasons. At the time, when Rahul Gandhi was busy in Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Rajasthan Congress was on brink of split. Few days ago, the majority of Congress MLAs in Goa deflected and joined BJP. This happed at the start of Bharat Jodo Yatra, this event diverted the attention from the yatra to the way in which Congress party functions. The Royal family, the Gandhi’s, unofficially chose their trusted lieutenant, Mr. Ashok Gahalot to lead the party. But Mr. Gahalot, the Jadugar, was not keen to become rubber stamp in the name of the Congress President. He was keen to continue as Rajasthan CM, the post which has more powers than the Congress President. It seems, he and his loyalists MLAs in Rajasthan orchestrated drama in the name of Mr. Sachin Pilot to ensure that he is out of the race of Congress Presidentship and at the same time will continue to be CM of Rajasthan. Post this debacle, Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge, another trusted lieutenant has filed the nomination for the Congress President. With the unofficial cum official support of the Royal Family, it is certain that Mr. Kharge will lead the Congress in the general election of 2024. Few things emerged very clearly post this debacle in Congress, the high command (the Royal family) does not possess the powers which it should have, no credible leader in the congress wants to take challenge of leading the party when it is going through its existential crises. In democracies, both the ruling parties and opposition parties plays important role. Currently, we are seeing a phase wherein the opposition parties are no where close to ruling party, the BJP. This is certainly not good for democracy. We can just hope Congress will first do “Congress Jodo” than “Bharat Jodo” and establish its position as principal opposition party.?????????????????????????????????

The tax professionals were busy in last couple of months in filing the Income Tax returns and tax audit reports for Individuals, Companies, and other legal entities. Unlike past years, this year the performance of Income Tax Portal was remarkable. Barring few hic-cups, the portal was smooth in functioning. The rush to file the audit reports, in last few hours on 30th September, lead to some disruptions on portal due which the date was extended by 7 days. I think, most of my professional brothers and sisters will be happy with the performance of the portal this year. In past, we experienced that the extensions ruined the personal lives of professional. With no extensions this year, the professional can enjoy the festivities around the corner.

?Diwali is around the corner; we wish all of you a very happy and prosperous Diwali! The last couple of years, we could not meet our near and dear ones. I wish this Diwali will recoup some of our lost time. Have a wonderful time ahead!?