Muqbil Ahmar | Blog

In one more push by the  privatization  juggernaut, the Indian government has given the go-ahead to the privatization of debt-laden  Air India  and five subsidiaries. Following a Cabinet meeting,  India’s finance minister Arun Jaitley  has said that in-principle approval for its divestment had been given and a panel headed by him will decide the modalities of the Air India sale. Arun Jaitley also said that the approval was according to a proposal by the  Ministry of Civil Aviation . The decision reflects the government’s resolve to pushing the public sector airlines into private hands. The financially bleeding airline has debt of over Rs 52,000 crore and has been surviving due to a Rs 30,000-crore bailout package by the previous  UPA government  in 2012. Privatization: A panacea for all public sector ills? There are many votaries of privatization and who feel that the Indian state need not manage and run commercial enterprises and...

Tech giant Microsoft  plans massive layoffs as the company shifts focus from software business to cloud computing and other transformative digital services, according to reports. Whereas several reports predict changes will result in thousands of layoffs, Microsoft confirmed to AFP that the changes were on way. "Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners," a spokesperson of Microsoft has said. Microsoft  Chief Executive Officer (CEO)   Satya Nadella  has been focusing on reducing the company's reliance on software and shifting it to cloud computing as well as business services. "From large multinationals to small and medium businesses to non-profits all over the world, organizations are using Microsoft's cloud platforms to power their digital transformation," Nadella said during the reporting of Microsoft’s earnings for the first 3 months of 2017. Microsoft said revenue from its "Intelligent Cloud" rose 1...

Media reports predict that the advent of the  Goods and Services Tax (GST)  will boost  GDP growth rates  by 2–2.5% in India. Some even predict 4.5% GDP growth rates (GST to boost GDP by 4.2% or Rs 6.5 lakh crore: Fed Paper:  The Economic Times ). The newspaper doesn’t divulge details about the referenced research note.  India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley  says the GST implementation will increase India's gross domestic product (GDP) by 1-2 per cent. "This (GST) has the potential to push India's GDP by one to two per cent," Jaitley recently pronounced at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington. GDP growth rate claims triggered by the GST However, others offer a contrarian view: “Utterly bogus claim that the GST would increase India’s GDP growth rate by 2 percent per year. If the GST had such a miraculous effect, then the world capitalist crisis would have vanished long ago, since the US, which does not have a GST, wo...

The immediate impact of the  Goods and Services Tax (GST)  on consumers is that they will need to shell out more money for ready-to-move-in flats because developers who have large unsold inventories will need to get them off the block and may try to pass on higher tax burdens to buyers. On the other hand, new flats should cost less. However, under the new regime, effective tax on an under-construction project goes up to 12 percent, that is, increase of 6.5 percent. Touted as one of the biggest indirect tax reforms after Independence, the  GST rollout tries to cut down on a plethora of taxes and their concomitant complexities by an order across industries. However, it will be interesting to see how the simplicity aspect converts into tangible benefits for the eventual consumer and thus India’s famed middle class. Is simple beautiful? The simplicity factor of GST law The GST replaces different taxes that the Central and State governments levy separately. Moreover,...

While the  United States of America  has withdrawn from the  Paris Agreement ,  Asian superpower China  is marching towards emission reduction as well as  renewable energy  commitments. The  world’s biggest floating solar power plant  has been made operational in Huainan city, Eastern China. The 40-MW plant is situated on a reservoir and is in close proximity to the city. Offshore from Huainan, the plant has been successfully connected with the power grid. Being offshore, it does not take up space and uses less energy than solar farms as seawater acts as a coolant. Sungrow, the world's leading photovoltaic system supplier, has set up the plant. Floating solar power plants can be set up on water bodies such as lakes and seas, particularly near cities where land availability is less. China faces massive air pollution China, the most populated country on the globe is facing high degrees of  air pollution , which is estimated to...

The mass firings at some of India's leading Information Technology Sector companies has not gone down well with the employees. Ex-employees of  Indian  Information Technology  ( IT ) firms such as  Cognizant ,  Wipro , and  Tech Mahindra , who faced  layoffs  recently, are taking recourse against what they termed illegal and baseless job cuts, according to media reports. The complainants from Pune, India, have approached the  Maharashtra Commissioner of Labor  against former employers and have filed petitions seeking justice. They claim their services were  te rminated  without appropriate reason. According to the report, the petitions have been filed through  Forum of IT Employees  (FITE), a Chennai-based organization. There has been a flood of such complaints after major IT companies started  downsizing  in response to several factors such as  H1B visa reforms ,  automation , uncerta...