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The Economic Survey unveiled on January 31 showed that the mostly micro, small, and medium enterprises that availed of an emergency credit scheme repaid a large part of what they owed. The government announced the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) in FY21, which according to the survey succeeded in shielding MSMEs from financial distress. A report from credit information company CIBIL showed that the scheme supported MSMEs facing the COVID shock, with 83 percent of borrowers being micro-enterprises. Among the micro units, half had an overall exposure of less than Rs10 lakh. CIBIL data also showed that ECLGS borrowers had lower non-performing asset (NPA) rates than enterprises that were eligible for ECLGS but did not avail of it. Moreover, the goods and services tax paid by MSMEs, after declining in FY21, showed an uptick, reflecting the financial resilience of small businesses. ECLGS was launched with a corpus of Rs 4.5 lakh crore that was subsequently … [Read more...] about Economic Survey 2023: ECLGS borrowers had lower NPA rates

The economy is slowing down and inflation is cooling, with no mass layoffs in sight—that’s not supposed to happen. Friday’s news that employers kicked hiring into high gear in January by adding 517,000 jobs came as a surprise for a number of reasons. Layoffs at Google ( GOOGL) and other tech companies have dominated headlines . Other parts of the economy have been slowing down , with a multitude of indicators flashing warning signs of a recession. The domino effect of a slow down usually causes a surge in the unemployment level, and economists had expected those headwinds to at least curb the pace of job gains. “It’s clearly the tale of two economies,” said Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. “The labor market is extremely tight. It's very strong, but the rest of the economy is slowing down.” Those two things don’t usually go together, but the pandemic may have overturned the old rules. “Historical experience may prove to be misleading in 2023,” said … [Read more...] about The Job Market Is Defying Economic Gravity

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Key takeaways An earnings recession may be imminent as consumer spending slows and high costs undercut profits on Wall Street As inflation and layoffs continue, talk of an earnings recession has investors worried Investors can protect themselves by diversifying their portfolios to include defensive stocks The financial world has been sounding the alarm recently over a potential recession in the U.S. and the global economy. The Federal Reserve is still fighting inflation, big tech companies are continuing layoffs, and companies are gearing up to report their 4th quarter earnings. With that, fear of an earnings recession is mounting. Morgan Stanley's investment chief warned clients that incoming earnings reports would underwhelm investors, potentially pushing major stock indexes to two-year lows even if the economy avoids a recession. As we head into earnings season, investors are keeping watch to see if … [Read more...] about What Is An Earnings Recession, And How Does It Affect Stock Prices?

Larry Page (Image: Reuters) Last month, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google’s founders, held several meetings with company executives. The topic: a rival’s new chatbot, a clever A.I. product that looked as if it could be the first notable threat in decades to Google’s $149 billion search business. Mr. Page and Mr. Brin, who had not spent much time at Google since they left their daily roles with the company in 2019, reviewed Google’s artificial intelligence product strategy, according to two people with knowledge of the meetings who were not allowed to discuss them. They approved plans and pitched ideas to put more chatbot features into Google’s search engine. And they offered advice to company leaders, who have put A.I. front and center in their plans. The re-engagement of Google’s founders, at the invitation of the company’s current chief executive, Sundar Pichai, emphasized the urgency felt among many Google executives about artificial intelligence and that chatbot, … [Read more...] about Google calls in help from Larry Page and Sergey Brin for A.I. fight

ChatGPT’s popularity is spreading like wildfire in the developed world, with even children using it to do their homework. (Image Courtesy: Nurphoto via Getty Images) For many, ChatGPT has become a looming threat on the horizon. A mythical creature ready to swoop down and gobble up our jobs. But is there any truth to that? And what will be the impact on the workplace? What does ChatGPT mean for writers? Think about it, is ChatGPT creative? It is the one thing that differentiates AI from real humans. ChatGPT isn't any different. It follows a specific pattern when it comes to writing and will punch out incredibly similar content with minor details changed. It adheres to a formula which makes it less unique than creative writing from real humans. Read More But you may ask, what about non-creative fields? Marketing, news or announcements? Well, for starters, ChatGPT does not have access to the internet, which means its database is limited to what it has … [Read more...] about Will ChatGPT take your job? Here are some areas that the AI will affect

Air pollution in Delhi (Image: Reuters) A ’finer’ Graded Response Action Plan — a set of anti-air pollution measures followed in the national capital and its vicinity according to the severity of the situation — will come into from October 1 and environment experts believe advance action this year will lead to lesser incidences of severe pollution. Earlier, GRAP would come into effect from October 15. Earlier, GRAP would come into effect from October 15. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a statutory body established in August 2021, for management of air quality in Delhi-NCR decided to implement GRAP early, considering suggestions from the public and experts that advance action can prevent drastic deterioration in air quality. Under the revised GRAP, curbs can be imposed on polluting activities up to three days in advance based on forecasts. Earlier, the authorities would implement the measures only after the PM2.5 and PM10 concentration touched a particular … [Read more...] about ‘Finer’ plan to fight air pollution to come into force from Oct 1

Representative image The Revised Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) – a set of measures followed to tackle air pollution in Delhi and its adjacent areas according to the severity of the situation – came into force from Saturday. Considering suggestions from the public and experts that early precautionary measures can prevent deterioration in air quality, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) decided to implement GRAP early this time. Under the revised action plan, curbs can be imposed on polluting activities up to three days in advance, based on forecasts. The environment department will be using the new real-time source apportionment system which will help identify the sources of air pollution in real time and the data will be available from October 20, officials said. The green war room will monitor violations and redress complaints and grievances in keeping with the practice being followed for the last two years. GRAP has now been classified under four … [Read more...] about To tackle air pollution in Delhi, CAQM to implement Revised Graded Response Action Plan from today

(Image: AP) Delhi’s air quality turned poor on Dussehra, though the early warning system of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology had predicted moderate to satisfactory air quality in the capital. IITM officials said that they did not record any substantial changes in parameters like temperature, wind speed and emissions from farm fires on October 5 and “hyperlocal emissions” could have impacted the air quality. The possible sources of these emissions could be the large number of effigies burnt on the occasion of Dussehra and during a political protest, they said. With the air quality in Delhi dropping to the ‘poor’ category on Wednesday, authorities in the National Capital Region (NCR) have been asked to strictly implement measures under “Stage 1” of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) which include penal and legal action against polluting industrial units. The Centre’s sub-committee on GRAP noted in a meeting that there has been a “sudden dip” in air quality … [Read more...] about Hyperlocal emissions behind spike in pollution in Delhi on Dussehra

Representative Image State-run NTPC Ltd, India’s largest power-generating utility, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Siemens Ltd on October 12 to test the feasibility of hydrogen co-firing blended with natural gas at its 432 MW power plant in Haryana’s Faridabad. This is the second MoU signed by NTPC in less than a week for testing such a process and technology, which is aimed at decarbonising power generation in India. On October 6, NTPC Ltd and GE Gas Power signed a similar MoU to check the feasibility of hydrogen (H2) co-firing blended with natural gas in GE’s 9E gas turbines installed at NTPC’s Kawas combined-cycle gas power plant in Gujarat. Experts said these pilot projects, if scaled up further, could act as a “good transitory phase” as the country gradually warms up toward the national green hydrogen mission. Green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy through electrolysis. The Ministry of Power notified the first part of the National Hydrogen … [Read more...] about Govt scales up tests on blending hydrogen with natural gas for power generation

A man burns paddy waste stubble in a field on the outskirts of Chandigarh, India. REUTERS/Ajay Verma - D1BEULQOFXAA What causes major worry is same solutions that earlier failed to stop farm burnings are being pushed again amidst similar concerns from farmers. Many pitches cash compensation to farmers and crop diversification as more viable solutions but government action is going in a different direction. Vivek Gupta Even as authorities claim that they are all set to deal with what is now an annual public health crisis, stubble burning in the northern states of India is back this year, raising concern among citizens, government authorities and policymakers. For the last several years, the practice of stubble burning – where fire is set to straw stubble to clear fields before the next crop is planted – has been one of the prime reasons for air pollution over the national capital region (NCR) and other parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains, before the onset of the … [Read more...] about Stubble burning is back, smothering north India with concerns for the upcoming winter