Business Standard Editorial Comment

IndiGo crisis: A reminder that Railways must carefully reassess duty hours

The problem is being compounded by staff shortages. As of March 1, 2024, nearly 15 per cent of train-driver posts were vacant across the network

US policy differences will require monitoring as Fed rate cuts spark debate

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, in his remarks, said the policy interest rate was now in neutral territory, which means it is neither expansionary nor contractionary

Higher spending but fewer visitors: India must fix its tourism strategy

India ranks 39th on the World Economic Forum's 2024 Travel and Tourism Development Index, performing strongly on natural and cultural resources

IPO mania is the new normal but the real test remains value creation

This is part and parcel of a market where many startups seek listing, which in itself is not an unhealthy trend

Solar transition: Reforms needed to improve long-term performance

Grid-level constraints compound the problem. Solar generation is geographically concentrated, while transmission capacity and energy storage remain severely inadequate

Declining dependence: Declining MGNREGA demand is a positive sign

This improvement is attributed to multiple factors, including stronger real wages in both agricultural and non-agricultural work, increased tractor and fertiliser sales, healthy growth in farm credit

Flighty governance: IndiGo fiasco reflects collective systemic failures

This deficiency, in turn, raises questions about the role of the board, staffed by luminaries from business and industry

India's economy outdoes expectations but rupee strain raises fresh risks

The headline inflation reading for October, at 0.25 per cent, was the lowest in the current series. The MPC has revised the inflation projection for the current year to 2 per cent

Putin's red-carpet visit: Strong optics but uncertain strategic gains

It is also an open question whether any of India's immediate objectives were met, although there was an abundance of promise mostly built on Mr Modi's visit to Moscow last year

Toxic aquifer beneath our feet: India faces its worst groundwater crisis

The most striking finding is the presence of uranium contamination across North India

IndiGo chaos exposes deep cracks in aviation's pilot planning playbook

It is easy to see that these rules require airlines to accelerate their pilot and crew hiring programmes. In fact, the FDTL norms are not the only compulsion to do so

India must build safer roads, enforce laws with tech, reform licensing

We needs to build safer road networks. Stricter enforcement of road laws is essential, supported by technology such as automated surveillance, e-challaning, speed-detection cameras & AI-based tracking

Weaker rupee to help exporters, low inflation means it doesn't pose a risk

In a situation where the balance of payments has turned negative, the currency would be expected to depreciate and act as a stabiliser

Inconsistent solutions: Recent telecom directives must be reconsidered

This would in effect install in every smartphone a backdoor, which could be a threat to privacy and security

Protecting revenue: GST may need further reforms to safeguard collections

Govt hikes excise on tobacco, levies pan masala cess amid tepid GST growth, raising concerns over divisible pool

Hardware for AI: Google's entry will increase competition in market

However, Google's recent launch of Gemini3 has served as a good advertisement for the capability of its TPUs, which were used to develop the new model

Withering heights: Supreme Court verdict impacts the future of Aravallis

This much is clear from an internal assessment of the Forest Survey of India, which is reported to have stated that more than 90 per cent of the Aravallis falls below 100 metres

A binding national plan is urgently needed to tackle air pollution

The key message from this 10-year study is that despite policy intervention and technological improvement, India's major cities continue to suffer major air-quality challenges

Beating expectations: Recent reforms will improve the business environment

India's GDP surged 8% in the first half, defying global headwinds, but weak nominal growth and slowing tax revenues raise fresh questions ahead of the MPC's policy review

Banking on a bargain: Sandesara settlement raises important questions

The brothers, who had managed to abscond on the Albanian passport in 2017 and were running an oil and gas business in Nigeria, had a long list of cases against them