Tatas may be waiting in the wings to buy Jet Airways

• The Tata group may revive a bid to acquire Jet Airways only if the airline goes to the bankruptcy court
• Last year the Tata Group withdrew from talks to buy Jet as its founder, Naresh Goyal, was unwilling to cede control

HDFC Bank’s stellar run continued in FY19, but Puri’s exit may be a concern

• Puri may have to hang up his boots in FY21 as the age limit for top banking executives to hold office is 70 years
• Its March quarter and full-year earnings released on Saturday show that its bad loan stock is under 2% of its loans and its net interest margin remained at 4.4%

Carmakers are betting on alliances to rev up sales and mitigate risks

• Is such enthusiasm justified when India’s carmakers are battling slowing sales and production cuts?
• Passenger vehicle (PV) sales will grow from $40 billion per year in 2017 to $265 billion by 2030, Morgan Stanley says

Reliance Jio’s  falling  Arpu  may be good news for sector

• Slide in Arpu may put pressure on the company to raise tariffs, say experts
• Increase in tariffs will be good news for the sector which has seen operators shut shop after Reliance Jio’s entry

In Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, rural anger still rules

• Gujarat still seems to be stuck in the clear rural-urban divide of 2017. Will Pulwama and Balakot make a difference?
• In 2014, the BJP won all 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat. But the situation seems to have changed. While the BJP still holds sway in urban areas, rural distress has the saffron party on edge

Has Aadhaar improved welfare delivery?

The NDA-II has ramped up direct benefit transfer and Aadhaar authentication in welfare programmes but implementation issues remain prevalent

India yatra reveals what the elections can’t see

From Gujarat to Bengal, Mint is tracing the steps of Mahatma Gandhi’s train trip from the 1900s to discover what India’s needs and expectations are today. Halfway through the journey, we bring you the story so far as Gujarat goes to the polls on Tuesday.

Canada’s Brookfield looks to acquire Mytrah Energy

• Stake sale could be valued at more than $1 billion, reaching up to nearly $1.5 billion
• The deal will also be largest transaction in the Indian renewable space in terms of size of the portfolio

Congress missing from campaign trail in Odisha, stares at dim prospects

• Once a formidable force, Congress is the victim of prolonged indecision and infighting in Odisha
• The Congress has been dwindling in the state for some time now

11 Jet lenders could see a major haircut to their exposure

• Etihad Airways has asked Jet’s lenders to take an 80% haircut on their debt to the airline for it to make a bid
• Jet Airways owes the 11 banks, including nine Indian banks, about ₹11,261 crore, the person said

Sri Lanka on the edge as Easter Sunday bombings kill 200

• 3 Indians among those dead in eight blasts at churches and hotels in and around Colombo
• The three bombed hotels and one of the churches, St Anthony’s Shrine, are frequented by foreign tourists

Retail steadily increased holdings in Jet Airways even as institutions sold

• At the end of March 2019 the retail investors had increased their stake in the troubled airline to 11.42% from 4.9%
• The behaviour of institutional investors has been in stark contrast with the way retail investors viewed Jet

Investors riding the rise in the BSE Realty index may better be watchful

• This makes it one of the best performing sectoral indices
• The real estate sector is undergoing considerable change over the last few years

Jet employees union writes open letter; says will never let airline go down

• Lenders of Jet Airways have started the process for stake sale in the cash-strapped carrier
• All India Jet Airways Technicians Association (AIJATA), which has around 800 members, has written an open letter

What Power Grid Corp of India can do to rekindle interest among investors

• Cash-deployment road map in a reduced capex context will be key along with returns from new projects
• The company has projects of ₹77,000 crore, providing a good asset-addition pipeline for two-three years

The impediments in fund flows to the economy are all set to go

• Why is the worry of insufficient fund flow still lingering in the market and where exactly is the problem?
• A large part of this distress stems from the shrinkage in one source of funds, non-banking financial companies

PM Modi’s rallies in Maharashtra today to give campaign a leg-up

• Will address rallies in Dindori and Nandurbar—both seats go to polls in the fourth phase on 29 April
• Shiv Sena leadership and cadres have been demanding that Modi campaign in the Konkan region

In Chhattisgarh, health and education are top concerns

• As seven seats go to polls Tuesday, voters hope for a govt that deals with paucity of staff and improves facilities
• The thoughts of many voters are focused on two priorities —health and education—in one of India’s poorest states, with a large tribal population

'People wanted change... they now know they ushered in the wrong government'

• Between 2014 and now, the ambience continues to remain charged because of Prime Minister Modi
• We feel we are likely to win at least seven seats in these elections. We are in a strong position in the state

‘BJP won’t come back to power, Modi has lost faith of the people’

• On 23 April, Kharge will be fighting his 12th electoral battle from Kalaburagi (Gulbarga)
• As the leader of opposition in the Lower House, Kharge is confident of delivering over 20 seats to his party

The NBFC opportunity is still very attractive, says Gunit Chadha

In an interview, Gunit Chadha, founder of APAC Financial Services (NBFC) and a former Asia Pacific CEO of Deutsche Bank, lays down the themes that he thinks will determine the future of the sector

Tamil Nadu bypolls to determine fate of AIADMK govt

• The government is banking on the bypolls to complete its full term, failing which it risks splintering into more factions
• The AIADMK has 113 out of the 235 (one nominated) seats in the House while the DMK has 88

Opinion | Decline in political debate leaves democracy strained

Amid caste based slogans, showering of money on poor voters is part of our politics

Saudi Aramco to buy Shell's stake in Saudi refining JV for $631 million

• The purchase, which is part of Aramco's strategy to expand its downstream operations, will be completed later this year, they said in a joint statement
• Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Co, based in Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia, has a crude oil refining capacity of 305,000 barrels per day

Asset valuation is biggest concern for institutional investors in 2019: Report

• 54% of investors feel small to mid-market buyout funds offer attractive opportunities in current market
• Almost three-quarters (72%) of investors surveyed by Preqin said that valuations are a concern this year

Campaigning for Phase 3 of Lok Sabha polls ends

• Polling will be held in the 115 seats, spread across 14 States and Union Territories
• All seats in Gujarat (26), Kerala (20), Goa (2), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (1) and Daman and Diu (1) go to polls in the third of the seven-phase election

Elections 2019: ‘Nation stood with Abhinandan, none with us fishers’

• Fishermen from Porbandar, which is about 250 nautical miles from the Pakistan port of Karachi, often cross into international waters
• Pollution along the coast has depleted schools of fish, and fishermen have to go deeper into the ocean for a good catch

It’s time of stand up with judiciary, Arun Jaitley on allegations against CJI

• Arun Jaitley has rubbished the allegations stating that the Chief Justice Gogoi is known for his strong values and ethics
• In the light of the MeToo movement this blog supporting the Chief Justice is a step backwards for women coming out in open to narrate their work-place harassment complaints

FinMin set to issue policy norms for fintech sector

• Panel to suggest how fintech can be leveraged for financial inclusion of MSMEs
• The panel looked at the regulatory regime for the fintech space and explored the creation ‘sandbox model’

Elections 2019: As Rajkot expands, it’s a struggle now to make space for migrant

• Over the last three decades, since the 1989 Lok Sabha polls, BJP has lost this constituency only once, in 2009 to the Congress
• The current chief minister, Vijay Rupani, represents the Rajkot West assembly seat

Naveen Patnaik rides social media wave to reach out to young urban voters

• By tapping social media, Patnaik is building a narrative that he is still a credible face of 45 million Odias
• After a fitness video to dispel doubts over his health, Patnaik has now come out with micro videos where he is seen interacting with the youth

India must complete its reform process in next five years: Arvind Panagariya

• Panagariya said that India needs a clear focus on the growth of labour-intensive sectors
• The noted academician also stressed that serious thought must be given to the consolidation of numerous transfers into a single cash transfer

Textile city wants new govt to jump-start the economy, focus on infrastructure

• The new economy has created its own hubs, and Gujarat, though known for its hard-working and business-minded ways, seems to have stayed within traditional set-ups
• Ahmedabad hasn’t seemed to be able to catch up since

The better way out of a troubled fixed maturity plan for investors

• FMPs are market-linked instruments and are, therefore, exposed to the return and risk characteristics of the underlying bonds in the portfolio
• Investors must recognise the risky nature of these products, and fund managers must turn more cautious as FMPs are often sold as replacement for FDs. They aren’t.

Opinion | Gender diversity as part of an organizational strategy

Is your company unconsciously rejecting women? Data-driven processes could fix the problem

Amazon way of reducing frauds: Delivery drivers must take selfies from now on

• For now, the rule applies for 'Flex drivers' — who work as independent contractors for Amazon's fastest 'Prime' deliveries
• Earlier, Uber implemented a similar policy that demanded drivers to take selfies but that plan failed

Ahmedabad’s millennials look for return on investment while voting too

• In 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won both the city’s Lok Sabha seats with comfortable margins
• Politics, if on people’s minds, is tucked way low on the to-do list

A heartfelt and open letter to India’s future railways minister

• Hundreds of ordinary citizens travel between Rajkot and Porbandar, two busy economic hubs, for personal and professional reasons every day
• The Porbandar-Rajkot Express is an entirely general class train

How your investments in NPS are faring

• There are eight pension fund managers to choose from and one of the ways to choose your fund manager is by tracking the returns
• Here is a breakdown of the performance of different funds of the private sector NPS

Opinion | Why we must trust but verify our vote count

For the sake of a democracy in which victory and defeat are accepted gracefully by all sides, we must aim for a consensus on the polling process. Even if that means a VVPAT over-count

Average airfares stay 10-15% high, more on non-metro routes

• Faced with severe liquidity crisis, Jet Airways this week suspended its entire operations causing massive reduction of capacity
• "The average fare level is higher... in the range of 10-15%," an Air India executive said

205 railway projects report cost overrun of ₹2.21 lakh crore

• The MOSPI monitors central sector projects involving an expenditure of ₹150 crore and above
• According to the report, the total original cost of these 205 projects was ₹1,68,116.34 crore up to December 2018

Waiting for weekend to binge watch Netflix? You may have a 'mean world' syndrome

• Researchers looked at five most binge-watched series: House of Cards, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Marco Polo, Bloodline and Daredevil
• The more hour you spend on Netflix, the more likely it is that you see the world as a mean and scray place, say researchers

DHFL funds breach Sebi’s group exposure limits

• The  funds  sold  securities  other  than DHFL’s to meet redemption pressure, and are now left with a high concentration of securities from the parent firm
• Exposure of three DHFL schemes to DHFL Group papers jumped from 7.5-8.5% in June 2018 to 29-37% in March 2019

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: BJP to defend 62 seats in phase 3, Congress 16

• It will also be a test for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which will aim to defend the maximum number of seats at 62
• Gujarat being the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP would again look for clean sweep in the state

Govt extends deadline for GST sales return for March until 23 Apr

• "Due date for filing GSTR-3B for the tax period March 2019 has been extended to April 23, 2019," a ticker on GST portal ‘gst.gov.in’ said
• The last date for filing summary sales return and payment of taxes for March is April 20, 2019

Job creation trebles in Feb at 8.61 lakh: EPFO payroll data

• The retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation has been releasing payroll data from April 2018
• According to the latest data, the highest job creation was recorded in January 2019 at 8.94 lakh against the provisional estimate of 8.96 lakh released last month

India missed 'golden opportunity' to resolve Kashmir dispute in 1971 war: PM

• Modi said then Congress government signed Shimla agreement (in 1972) "under global pressure" and released over 90,000 prisoners of war (PoW) instead of resolving the Kashmir dispute
• The prime minister said that it was a trump card in the hands of the government but the chance was missed

KKR's EmCare data hack hit as many as 60,000 patients and employees

• EmCare said that an unauthorized party obtained access to email accounts of as many as 60,000 individuals
• As many as 31,000 patients' personal details have been hacked

Nominations go to wire, Congress and AAP continue to hedge bets

• Congress is expected to field some of its top heavyweights to counter both AAP and BJP in Delhi
• AAP's West Delhi candidate Balbir Singh had filed nomination and the remaining 6 are likely to file on Monday

Jet Airways collapse: Privatisation not remedy, says AI union official

• The union official said that the present policies of the government need to be relooked as they have only lead to a crisis in the industry
• The abrupt closure of Jet Airways operations for the time being has put jobs of its over 20,000 employees