IIT education may get a revamp, why Patanjali is losing steam, and more top news

IIT education could be in for an overhaul. A section of IIT faculty has proposed doing away with the JEE Advanced exam and expanding intake to include those who perform well in JEE Main, scrapping the flagship B. Tech courses, and converting the IITs into post-graduate and research-centric institutions. The proposals, likely to be discussed at IIT Council's meeting later this month, are aimed at curbing the over $40 billion private coaching industry and taking the pressure off students. Competition is fierce for getting into the IITs – over 1.3 million candidates apply for about 11,000 seats on offer.

Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved is facing a slowdown after years of heady growth, Economic Times reports. Not only was its FY18 revenue flat at ?10,000 crore, but consumer offtake has declined for key categories like honey, hair care, and Chyawanprash even as the company lost incremental gains in toothpaste and ghee. "Patanjali is facing headwinds with FY18 sales growth flat YoY after 100% CAGR for the past four years," a Credit Suisse report said. The reasons? Brand fatigue, weak trade distribution, and a strong comeback by rivals in the form of natural products and strategic pricing.

More than 21,000 Indians overstayed their visas in the US last year. According to a Department of Homeland Security report, over 10.7 lakh Indians visited the US on B-1 (business) and B-2 (pleasure or medical treatment) visas in 2017, of which nearly 14,200 overstayed. There was no record of 12,498 Indians leaving the country, which implies they could be living in the US as an illegal immigrant, the report added. The suspected in-country overstay rate was 1.16% for India, in line with the overall rate of 1.15%, the DHS said.

A former promoter of Bhushan Steel was arrested for allegedly siphoning off ?2,000 crore from the company’s bank loans. Authorities say that ex-MD Neeraj Singal used 80 front companies for rotating funds which ultimately sent Bhushan Steel into insolvency. Singal will be in judicial custody till August 14. The steelmaker, which was taken over by Tata Steel, had a debt of more than ?44,000 crore. India has stepped up its investigations into corporate fraud — 83 companies are on the radar for governance lapses and business violations.

2018 could turn out to be a record year for PE/VC investments, data from EY’s deal tracker shows. For the seven months ended July, Indian companies bagged $16.9 billion in private money — 45% higher than the corresponding year-ago period. PE/VC investments had clocked a record $26 billion in 2017. Meanwhile, exits have also improved — 11 in July alone — signalling that more investors are getting their money back. Recently, Freshworks and Swiggy joined the unicorn club by raising capital at a valuation of over $1 billion.

Idea of the Day: Similar to a good marriage, companies can only succeed when their staff are committed, says Louisa Wong, executive chairman of Global Sage.

“For couples that stay married for a long time, chances are they talk, are kind and generous to each other, they make sacrifices, and accept one another for who they are. Companies can use this as guiding principles when nurturing their organization’s culture.”

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