Opinions & Blogs / Livemint
The ICC will rightfully take credit for extending the footprint of the game to the lucrative American market. But this is a good time to remember Jagmohan Dalmiya, the man whose dynamism and street smarts set cricket on its path to global reach
More than half the value addition in the manufacturing sector is now generated in rural areas and about two-thirds of rural income comes from non-farm activities. Rural development can be accelerated to achieve double-digit growth rates and make Indias land distribution less lopsided.
For India's Tata Motors, the fallout appears immediate and challenging, while power industry firms stand on the edge of unexpected benefits
India's central bank needs to show foresight again and cut rates ahead of the US Federal Reserve to make money cheaper and revive private capital expenditure, which is necessary to sustain the post-pandemic growth revival amid fiscal constraints that could stay the governments hand.
Jerry Seinfelds new comedy film Unfrosted makes fun of breakfast cereal major Kelloggs launch of Pop-Tarts, even as the comedian dares the company to sue. But the brand's owner would rather join the joke, not take him on for intellectual property infringement. Whats going on? Dont ask AI.
Ahead of the US presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump have agreed to two debates on 27 June and 10 September. The clash may be pivotal if the race tightens. Will ageism play a role?
Chatting with AI chatbots can leave a neural imprint on us. A friendly bot may make us feel less vulnerable, offering us a sense of comfort, but might an emotional vacuum created by such a relationship also leave us emotionally fragile?
ChatGPTs latest omni version is making waves. But if OpenAI's aim was to make its chatbot more engaging, that could open up a can of worms and put our mental health at threat.
We must combine all our skills to boost innovation. An incentive scheme like Chinas talent programme could be used to recruit overseas Indians from top global institutes, while domestic universities ascend the biotech learning curve.
With China making diplomatic inroads, New Delhis hosting of the Maldivian foreign minister amid domestic elections and despite strained ties is evidence of the strategic importance of nations in the Indian Ocean Region. New Delhi is shoring up its influence for good reason.
The governments approach to taming food inflation has been flawed. Ad-hoc export and other trade restrictions appear to have raised supplier anxiety and worsened shortages of farm commodities. We need a proper framework of rules to address price instability.
New American barriers against Chinese imports confirm a US policy rejection of free trade. While watching out for the fallout, India should resist going the US way and letting geopolitics trump economics. We must avoid policy myopia.
Exports edged up a bit in April but were outpaced by imports, widening our trade deficit. Thankfully, capital inflows look sustainable and the rupee is unlikely to weaken muchthough a weaker currency could boost exports.
The global trade system is disintegrating as you read this
The depth of feelings stirred up by the badly conceived advertisement reveals a wider anxiety that AI players dismiss at their own risk. They could address the problem by positioning their products as human friendly.
The party may be making all the right noises on the issue but its publicity material is diversity deficient. Democrats should tell the stories of a wider cross-section of America.
We ought to acknowledge Indias success in relieving poverty by norms framed back in the 1970s, but its also time to revise our poverty cut-off in accordance with what we consider a decent standard of living today.
Located in the Sistan-Baluchistan province in Iran, the Chabahar Port offers both economic potential and strategic benefits for India.
A stagnation in sectors that employ a large number of people can have a direct impact on India's basic human development indicators. A look at India in comparison with its neighbours is quite revealing.
While the election result and higher-for-longer interest rates in the US could deliver short-term shocks, long-term investors have little to worry about.
Were RBI clamps on Kotak Mahindra Bank too stiff? Not if cyber risks are considered. Banks should view RBIs IT insistences as laying a well-lit path towards better and safer banking.
The ICICI merger case of alleged shareholder-vote irregularities could go either way. Its under scrutiny. But to the extent this episode speaks of alert minority shareholders, it augurs well for the future of capitalism in the country.
The US took little time to bring up the potential risk of sanctions in the context of Indias Chabahar port deal with Iran. Americas own interests, though, may converge with ours if we broaden the context.
Studies find a positive correlation between the proportion of women on boards and performance metrics like return on assets or equity. Whats lagging is the mindset shift needed for diversity to fulfill its promise.
AI may be disrupting elections right now and we just dont know it. With the cost of distribution already zero, the cost of content creation has come down too for everyone. Meta may need to tighten its rules for text-heavy platforms like WhatsApp.
Governments should encourage green industrial policies and not decry them as transgressions of international trade rules. The moral, environmental and economic arguments favour those who subsidize their green industries, not those who want to tax others production.
Hong Kong has suspended the sales of three spice blends made by MDH and Everest. The reason given for the action is that these products contain high levels of a cancer-causing pesticide ethylene oxide. The problems run deeper and it is not that there are no checks to regulate the quality.
We must stop their spread, keep people from falling for them and deploy the law to deter their ugly use as weapons.
Timely evacuation and treatment hold the key to solving a problem on which India is still an outlier. Lets do all we can to bend this curve.
Integrated theatre commands should boost Indias defence preparedness. We must get the basics of this plan right even as we address the command dilemma of tech-enabled warfare.
Having displaced the US, China is back on top as Indias biggest trade partner, but the gap between our imports and exports is vast. Decoupling isnt feasible, but the imbalance needs attention.
AI-generated content is suffusing the internet with stuff it can do without. This is fast lowering the overall reliability of what one encounters. While GenAI has many uses, its also a menace in need of regulation.
Ensuring you are invested in the right funds at all times is more complicated. However, as long as you have confidence in the fund management team, it's wise to stick with the fund
The founder has a record of criticizing new leaders of Starbucks. The shadow he casts has made the coffee chain difficult to run. Time for him to let go.
Socially, the move could alleviate poverty, reduce inequality and improve living standards. Economically, increased incomes are likely to boost spending and stimulate the Indian economy.
The results of a new survey rolled out to plug a big gap in GDP estimation havent been released yet. But that defeats its purpose of providing timely data on the countrys informal sector to policymakers, investors, researchers and ordinary citizens.
Patience for later rewards depends on trust. Workers opting for instant gratification suggests too little of it. Organizations must ensure their promises are credible.
Volatility may seem odd amid todays positive economic narrative, but poll uncertainty and indifferent business earnings could explain it. A drop in net household financial savings while mutual find inflows swell are another point to ponder.
A powerful solar storm gave the planet dazzling skies and served us a reminder of how the Suns doing fine while we face the threat of global warming. Surviving differs from thriving.
Indira Gandhi returned to power with an overwhelming majority in 1971, despite a drop in voter turnout of about 6%. In the following election, in 1977, the vote share climbed by more than 5%, but she lost.
The West Asian conflict has not disrupted the worlds top three oil consuming markets, and seems unlikely to. While some uncertainty cannot be ruled out, expectations of which way oil prices will move henceforth may need a broad rethink.
The ads intended message was that many of the creative tools could now be re-created using their new iPad. But instead, the metaphor it used elicited the fear that AI is a grave risk to the joy, authenticity and spontaneity of human creativity.
Our digital public infrastructure is built on design principles emphasizing interoperability and inclusive scalability from the outset. It could be a valuable case study for the world on how best to build inclusive technology in the age of artificial intelligence.
Do historians over-rate history? In many places, history is the first to go. It erodes at the speed of time.
Stock index movements reflect the health of listed companies. But extending the explanatory power of index movements to cover the growth prospects of an economy is inadvisable.
Indian Railways should not make the same mistake it made with Vande Bharat for Vande Bharat Metro services. It must study demand forecasts before picking routes to achieve optimal patronage and revenue.
The scheme's success is key to Indias ambitious target for solar rooftop energy. But how well the scheme does will be contingent on several factors including proper price signalling, efficient grid management, and well-structured curtailment policies.
Consumerism has overtaken younger generations but the values we inculcate in them could keep consumption from spinning out of control as India undergoes a youth bulge.
Anti-abortion gains in America have had a ripple effect on legal rights. The conservative agenda on abortion is bent against womens rightswhich include pregnancy provisions that Republicans are trying to squash.
The bankruptcy codes rollout in 2016 was among Indias biggest reforms, but the regime has been mired in troubles even as financial recovery has dropped. We must rescue this reform from slippery time-lines and delays.