Podcasts about ankur bhardwaj

In this episode, Uzair talks to Ankur Bhardwaj about India's economic slowdown and its root causes. We also talked about what options the government has to stimulate growth through the budget, and the reasons why the Indian Rupee has been weakening in recent weeks. Finally, we touched on major structural reforms that are needed in India and whether the Modi-led BJP government can push them through. Ankur Bhardwaj is Web Editor at Business Standard. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 1:30 Slowing growth in India 10:10 Navigating the budget cycle 14:50 Reform priorities 19:20 Promoting exports 23:30 Navigating the politics of reforms 26:50 Risks in the near-term

On August 7, Zomato said all women (including transgender people) at Zomato can avail up to 10 days of period leaves in a year. They were not the first one to announce such a policy. Steel producer Tata Steel and digital start-up Gozoop are two such companies which have a period leave policy in place. Zomato's announcement led to a social media storm that raised various questions. Companies are at the centre of this debate. Questions that have been raised include whether it will hamper business. Will it reduce employability of women? Is it discriminatory? Is it necessary? Will it be misused?  Business Standard's Amritha Pillay caught up with companies, who have already walked the talk. In this podcast Amritha talks to Ankur Bhardwaj and tells us what she found out.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Union Budget for financial year 2020-21 earlier today. The Budget speech lasted a little over two hours and forty minutes, the longest budget speech ever. The Budget speech saw fiscal deficit for the present financial year revised upwards to 3.8 per cent. Nominal GDP growth for the next financial year is estimated to be 10% What was the theme of Budget 2020? How bad is the fiscal deficit situation? What did it have for markets? What led to the markets tanking by 988 points? Budget 2020 brings with it some changes in the personal income tax regime. Can this help boost consumption? What has led to the decision to come out with the LIC IPO? What can be its implications? What does budget have for pushing GDP growth up and what does it have for generating more employment? How does the allocation for defence look? To answer all these questions and more, A K Bhattacharya, former editor, Business Standard joins Ankur Bhardwaj in this this podcast. Listen to the podcast for more.

Earlier in October, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India announced its bimonthly monetary policy. It cut the key lending rate, repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.15%. The MPC also maintained an accomodative stance. What is repo rate and why does a cut in it matter? Well, repo rate is the rate at which India's central bank, RBI lends money to commercial banks. These banks then lend money to individuals, corporations, entrepreneurs for their individual or corporate needs. The repo rate thereby affects the interests you, I or a businessman or company will pay for any loans. It therefore affects the economy of the country. A lower repo rate means, lower cost of capital for the business. A lower cost of capital is supposed to make it possible for businesses to invest more and give a bump to the economic activity in the country. To cut a long story short, a repo rate cut is done to try and increase India's GDP growth. This latest cut was the fifth consecutive rate cut done by the RBI. This wasn't all. The rate cut was overshadowed a bit by another announcement by the RBI. This was the cut in the GDP growth forecast by the RBI from 6.9% (as it had predicted earlier) to 6.1% now. In other words, the RBI does not expect the economy to grow faster in the remaining part of this financial year and therefore it cut down its forecast for GDP growth. This has come at a time when we read stories about a major economic slowdown in the newspapers everyday. Just yesterday, Wall Street brokerage firm, Goldman Sachs, said that the present economic slowdown in the country is worse than the 2008 crisis. To get a deeper understanding of the issue, former Editor, Business Standard, A K Bhattacharya joins Ankur Bhardwaj in this special podcast. Tune in for more:

Uninterrupted power supply is a political hot potato that can bring a government down in an election. India also managed to electrify all villages during the first tenure of the Modi government. Now, the users in these newly electrified villages would also be expecting 24x7 power supply.  The reality however is different as most of India has erratic power supply. Experts blame this on the poor health of power distribution companies or discoms. Poor discom infrastructure or poor financial health could be the reason for this erratic power supply. What is the cause of poor financial health and what has the government done to fix this issue? In Novemeber, 2015 the Modi government launched Ujjwala Assured Discom Yojana or UDAY to rescue the discoms in the country.  The scheme had fixed targets that it sought to achieve by FY20. How has the scheme performed so far? Has discom health improved? Shreya Jai, special correspondent with Business Standard has tracked UDAY since inception and here she joins Ankur Bhardwaj to discuss the contours, successes and failures of UDAY. Tune in for more:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently underlined his government’s intention to move away from single-use plastics in the coming years.  While addressing the 14th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 14) in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh in September, he exhorted the delegates to initiate a global ban on single-use plastic. This led to speculation and worries that the government may announce a ban on single-use plastic on October 2, 2019 but India did not go ahead with such a ban. What exactly is single-use plastic? Why doesn’t the government simply go ahead and ban it?  What are the alternatives to using single-use plastic? Business Standard’s Senior Associate Editor, Jyoti Mukul answers some of these questions in this podcast with host, Ankur Bhardwaj. Tune in for more:

On 13 September, Reserve Bank of India, released the Report of the Internal Working Group to Review Agricultural Credit. The report mentions in its preface, “agricultural credit plays a vital role in farm sector development and facilitates adoption of new technologies.” This report looks at various issues related to agricultural credit in the country. These include the impact of farm loan waivers on state finances. So, what are the issues the report highlights? Business Standard’s farm editor, Sanjeeb Mukherjee talks to Ankur Bhardwaj and helps us understand  the report better. Click below to listen to the full podcast.

The General Election is behind us and India can now focus on what is really important, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. India last won the trophy in 2011. Can it bring it back home? Who are the favourites this world cup and who are the players to watch out for.  In the latest episode of BS On Ground, host Ankur Bhardwaj puts these questions to feature writer, Dhruv Munjal. Tune-in to the podcast for the details. Subscribe to Business Standard On Ground and Business Standard podcasts on Spotify, Google Podcasts or Apple Podcasts for the latest from the world of sports, economy, business, markets or politics.

The General Election is behind us and India can now focus on what is really important, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. India last won the trophy in 2011. Can it bring it back home? Who are the favourites this world cup and who are the players to watch out for.  In the latest episode of BS On Ground, host Ankur Bhardwaj puts these questions to feature writer, Dhruv Munjal. Tune-in to the podcast for the details. Subscribe to Business Standard On Ground and Business Standard podcasts on Spotify, Google Podcasts or Apple Podcasts for the latest from the world of sports, economy, business, markets or politics.

In the seventh episode of Business Standard’s politics podcast, The Chessboard, host Ankur Bhardwaj and Political Editor, Archis Mohan discuss the final phase of voting that will take place on Sunday, 19 May. 59 Lok Sabha constituencies will elect their MPs on 19 May and this includes the 13 seats in the state of Punjab. A little over two years after assembly elections in 2017, how is the political situation in the state? Can AAP retain its four seats in the state? Can Shiromani Akali Dal make its presence felt? Or is it the Congress party in pole position? As we get closer to the day of the results, political leaders around the country are meeting their peers in other parties. The Telangana CM, K C Rao met DMK boss, Stalin recently. Is a political realignment happening in India in anticipation of the results? The Prime Minister was in the news for his comments on advising the Indian Air Force to attack Balakot in cloudy conditions and for his statement on the use of emails and digital cameras in the late 1980s. Tune in for a detailed discussion on these issues. For more exciting news and insights from the world of politics, follow The Chessboard by subscribing to the Business Standard channel on Spotify and Google Podcast.

In the seventh episode of Business Standard’s politics podcast, The Chessboard, host Ankur Bhardwaj and Political Editor, Archis Mohan discuss the final phase of voting that will take place on Sunday, 19 May. 59 Lok Sabha constituencies will elect their MPs on 19 May and this includes the 13 seats in the state of Punjab. A little over two years after assembly elections in 2017, how is the political situation in the state? Can AAP retain its four seats in the state? Can Shiromani Akali Dal make its presence felt? Or is it the Congress party in pole position? As we get closer to the day of the results, political leaders around the country are meeting their peers in other parties. The Telangana CM, K C Rao met DMK boss, Stalin recently. Is a political realignment happening in India in anticipation of the results? The Prime Minister was in the news for his comments on advising the Indian Air Force to attack Balakot in cloudy conditions and for his statement on the use of emails and digital cameras in the late 1980s. Tune in for a detailed discussion on these issues. For more exciting news and insights from the world of politics, follow The Chessboard by subscribing to the Business Standard channel on Spotify and Google Podcast.

In this episode, we are joined by Ankur Bhardwaj, Senior Editor at Business Standard to talk about the State of Haryana which goes to the polls in the 6th phase of polling. Assembly elections are also scheduled a few months after Lok Sabha polls suggesting that both could be impacted by the same trends and patterns. While the Jat community has dominated politics in the state of Haryana, the inter-caste violence that broke out in 2016 over reservation and many other issues exposed the political and social fault lines among the "chattis biradari" of Haryana. How have political parties moved to consolidate their support among various communities? Are we seeing a re-alignment among communities along very different party lines? Join us as we discuss these and more issues with Ankur. You can follow Ankur Bhardwaj on twitter here: https://twitter.com/Bhayankur You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app.

In episode six of the Chessboard, host Ankur Bhardwaj speaks to Archis Mohan about the battle in the northern states of Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and the Prime Minister’s comments about former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. 118 Lok Sabha constituencies are going to vote in two phases now. 59 of them will vote on Sunday, 12th May. All the seven seats in Delhi will vote on that day. Is it a triangular fight? Is the BJP way ahead of the competition? Has the Congress managed to recover strength in the city-state or is the AAP the real contender? In Haryana, all ten seats will vote on 12 May as well. Will the voting be influenced by caste reservation riots from few years ago? Is caste polarisation an issue? In Madhya Pradesh, why did BJP not repeat its senior MP and former Lok Sabha Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan as a candidate from its stronghold, Indore? And, in the big battle in Bhopal why was BJP forced to bring terror accused Pragya Thakur as a candidate against former Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh? In a speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi as well. The attack was criticised for being uncivil.  For a detailed discussion on all these issues, tune into the podcast.

In episode six of the Chessboard, host Ankur Bhardwaj speaks to Archis Mohan about the battle in the northern states of Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and the Prime Minister’s comments about former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. 118 Lok Sabha constituencies are going to vote in two phases now. 59 of them will vote on Sunday, 12th May. All the seven seats in Delhi will vote on that day. Is it a triangular fight? Is the BJP way ahead of the competition? Has the Congress managed to recover strength in the city-state or is the AAP the real contender? In Haryana, all ten seats will vote on 12 May as well. Will the voting be influenced by caste reservation riots from few years ago? Is caste polarisation an issue? In Madhya Pradesh, why did BJP not repeat its senior MP and former Lok Sabha Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan as a candidate from its stronghold, Indore? And, in the big battle in Bhopal why was BJP forced to bring terror accused Pragya Thakur as a candidate against former Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh? In a speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi as well. The attack was criticised for being uncivil.  For a detailed discussion on all these issues, tune into the podcast.

In episode 5 of Business Standard’s podcast on politics, the Chessboard, Ankur Bhardwaj and Archis Mohan discuss the four phases of voting, the BJP’s mojo and the violent nature of politics in West Bengal Nearly all of south and west of India has voted. In the east only West Bengal has not completed polling yet. With mostly north Indian and Hindi speaking states going to vote in the coming three phases, how is the chessboard of Indian politics placed? 375 seats have now voted. Less than 200 remain and mostly in territory that was completely dominated by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014. Has the BJP regained its mojo? West Bengal sends 42 members to the Lok Sabha. The Trinamool Congress won 34 of these. Congress party won 4. The CPM had 2 while the BJP also had 2. Voting in the state is accompanied by violence. What explains this violent streak of Bengali politics? For more on all of these questions, tune in.

In episode 5 of Business Standard’s podcast on politics, the Chessboard, Ankur Bhardwaj and Archis Mohan discuss the four phases of voting, the BJP’s mojo and the violent nature of politics in West Bengal Nearly all of south and west of India has voted. In the east only West Bengal has not completed polling yet. With mostly north Indian and Hindi speaking states going to vote in the coming three phases, how is the chessboard of Indian politics placed? 375 seats have now voted. Less than 200 remain and mostly in territory that was completely dominated by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014. Has the BJP regained its mojo? West Bengal sends 42 members to the Lok Sabha. The Trinamool Congress won 34 of these. Congress party won 4. The CPM had 2 while the BJP also had 2. Voting in the state is accompanied by violence. What explains this violent streak of Bengali politics? For more on all of these questions, tune in.

In episode 4 of Business Standard’s podcast on politics, The Chessboard, Ankur Bhardwaj talks to Archis Mohan who has recently visited parts of Uttar Pradesh. 117 Lok Sabha constituencies vote in phase 3 of elections today. This includes the states of Gujarat and Kerala and parts of the state of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh among others. In Uttar Pradesh the BJP swept the seats in 2014. How is it placed this time with Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party coming together in an alliance. Is arithmetic trumping chemistry? Is caste overcoming nationalism in the state? Gujarat saw the Congress recover ground in assembly elections in 2017. A rural-urban divide became a factor in those polls. Is this divide still a feature of elections in Gujarat? Both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party have announced their candidates for all the seats in Delhi now. That has ended the speculation about an alliance between the two parties. What were the compulsions and what are the implications? For more on all of these questions, tune in.

In episode 3 of Business Standard’s political podcast, Ankur Bhardwaj and Aditi Phadnis discuss the SC’s notice to Rahul Gandhi, abusive poll campaign and phase two of polls We are now in the middle of an intense and rather heated election campaign all over India. Phase 1 of voting took place on 11 April and phase 2 takes place on Thursday, 18th April. 97 constituencies across 13 seats will go to polls on that day. This would include all 39 seats in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. On Monday, the SC also heard a contempt petition filed by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi against Congress President Rahul Gandhi. The BJP MP alleged that Rahul Gandhi had made a statement and wrongly attributed it to the SC. This was related to the slogan the Congress party has used in these polls to attack the prime minister. The SC also questioned the Election Commission of India over the lack of action against leaders making communal appeals in campaigns. After the rap on the knuckles, the ECI acted and barred Adityanath from campaigning for 72 hours and Mayawati for 48 hours. Click on the link and tune in for more

In the second episode of  The Chessboard, Business Standard's podcast on politics, Ankur Bhardwaj is in conversation with Archis Mohan, Political Editor, Business Standard and A K Bhattacharya. The Bharatiya Janata Party released its manifesto on Monday. The manifesto presents the party's resolutions for another stint in power. The Congress manifesto focused on the issues of jobs and farm distress. How do these two manifestos square up against each other? What are the major thrust areas? What are the economic visions that both the parties present in these manifestos? Parts of the country go to poll on 11 April. We discuss how things are placed in the western part of Uttar Pradesh which vote in Phase 1. For more, click on the link below

In the first episode of Business Standard's podcast on Indian politics, Ankur Bhardwaj is in conversation with Aditi Phadnis, Business Standard's Political Editor and Shine Jacob. Last week, Indian National Congress announced that its President, Rahul Gandhi will contest Lok Sabha elections from Wayanad in Kerala besides his existing seat of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.  Bharatiya Janata Party President, Amit Shah will also contest Lok Sabha elections from the party’s  bastion in Gandhinagar in Gujarat. What is the significance of these two announcements? How does it affect politics in these two states and the rest of the country?  In a reply to a question during her tour of east UP, Congress party General Secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hinted at contesting elections from Varanasi. We discuss these questions and the news of Priyanka Gandhi hinting at contesting from Varanasi in this first episode of this weekly podcast.  For more, click on the link above