PLAIN FACTS

Despite improvement, India still in bottom half of EM league table

• China still remains near the top of the Mint’s Emerging Markets Tracker, the latest numbers show

Modi govt’s infra plans in disarray after covid-led financing crunch

• The sector depends heavily on government financing. But this time, the fiscal crunch could make it tough for the Centre and states to fulfil their obligations to the National Infrastructure Pipeline

WFH linked to better mental health but worse relationship with colleagues

• More educated and high earning professionals were able to work from home. Younger respondents and women are also more likely to be working from home, the latest Yougov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey shows

As Facebook loses traction, Instagram gains new users in small towns and cities

Instagram has gained new users among older generations even while retaining young users, the latest round of the Yougov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey shows. The survey also shows that users across age groups are spending more time on video streaming platforms than before.

Kerala, Maharashtra now the only epicentres, but covid persists in some states

• Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh were among a handful of states where case-loads rose faster than the national average in the past week

Survey data again casts doubt over reality of open defecation-free India

• New survey data from NFHS hints at a wide gap between the government claim of nearly 100% toilet coverage and the reality of rural households

What's got Indians excited about Covid shot

Indian internet users have been searching for covid-19 vaccines much less than in other countries. But the Serum-Bharat Biotech spat raised their interest levels in vaccine efficacy

How India could spend its way out of the Great Recession

• The government will have to ensure its spending improves economy-wide productivity, and its own revenue-generating capacity, to avoid a stagflationary trap

Most BJP supporters want to take vaccines, Congress supporters not far behind

• People’s views on how state and central governments handled the covid-19 pandemic seem to be shaping trust in the vaccines about to be deployed

Coronavirus spread slows but two states still a worry

• But overall, India’s weekly coronavirus numbers have fallen further in the new year. New cases averaged less than 19,000 a day in the first week—levels last recorded six months ago

Have politicians lost the fear of inflation?

• Inflation has emerged as a key risk to India’s economic recovery but it may not be a political risk factor as yet. Inflation is still low compared to India’s past history, and a weakened Opposition has been unable to capitalize on rising prices so far

Even the pandemic can’t derail the IPL juggernaut

• Thanks to the bumper 2018 media rights deal, the IPL and the franchises are expected to weather the pandemic impact with relative ease

UP, Rajasthan, other large states led economic recovery in December

• Over 1.8 million vehicles were sold across India last month, 10 percent higher than December 2019, vehicle registration data suggests. This is the first time during the pandemic that vehicle registration data has shown a year-on-year increase

Lockdown boosted family life, but India’s young face anxiety, WFH fatigue

Family relationships improved for urban Indians during the lockdown. But many youngsters also faced anxiety and loneliness, with work-from-home fatigue now creeping in too, finds the latest YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey

Economic revival weak as new investments fail to pick up in Dec quarter

Despite the festive season and a slowdown in the pandemic, new project investments have fallen yet again in the December quarter

Economic recovery still dicey, key indicators remain dull in Nov

• Nine of the 16 high-frequency indicators considered in Mint’s macro tracker were in the red in November, with only minor progress since the previous month

Top politicians rarely tweet about covid now, are back to political games

• For India’s top politicians on Twitter, the coronavirus had pushed politics to the backseat during the lockdown. But as India unlocked, they are back in the zone

Business leaders tweet less post-lockdown, focus on coronavirus drops

• Most of the 20 business leaders whose Twitter activity is tracked by Mint now tweet less often than the lockdown days. But Indian leaders remain different from global ones in certain traits

Across Indian cities, car, house purchase plans take backseat

Most people saved money as cash or cash-like liquid instruments rather than in long-term deposits or investments which offer higher return, the latest YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey shows

Fresh wave looms in Kerala as covid-19 numbers rise again

• The state accounted for nearly one in every four new cases reported by India this week. The spike is coming from across the state, with Wayanad and Pathanamthitta being major hotspots