Business Today 4-Oct-20

India’s 23.9 per cent GDP contraction in April-June quarter makes it the worst performing major economy among the G7 + India + China. It was the result of the world’s strictest lockdown starting March 25. However, depicting that state of India’s economy — the worst in four decades — vis-a-vis other large economies in an infographic (below) found Business Today in the midst of an unsa-voury social media debate over whether India’s economic performance was indeed as poor. Twitterati compared apples with oranges — some deliberately to confuse, others out of ignorance. Year-on-year GDP numbers were mixed with ‘annualised’ GDP numbers which were mixed with quarter-on-quarter GDP numbers, each one twisting and turning statistics to prove their point and confuse and confound the readers. It was when we put out…

1 Sangeeta Pendurkar, CEO, Pantaloons Fashion, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail 2 Vibha Padalkar, MD & CEO, HDFC Life 3 Shanti Ekambaram, Group President, Consumer Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank 4 Karuna Nundy, Advocate, Supreme Court of India 5 Meena Ganesh, Co-Founder and CEO, Portea Medical 6 Richa Arora, President, Packaged Foods, Tata Consumer Products 7 Geetha Manjunath, Co-Founder and CEO, Niramai Health Analytix 8 Gargi Banerjee Dasgupta, Director, IBM Research India; CTO, IBM India and South Asia 9 Ipsita Dasgupta, Country Manager, Apple Services India 10 Nita Ambani, Founder and Chairperson, Reliance Foundation 11 Smita Jatia, MD, Hardcastle Restaurants 12 Nivruti Rai, Country Head, Intel India; VP, Data Centre Group, Intel Corporation 13 Neerja Birla, Chairperson, MPower 14 Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM 15 Roshni Nadar Malhotra, CEO, HCL Corporation; Chairperson,…

Number of Board Seats Held By Women Rises… …as More Companies Comply With Sebi Rule on Increasing Women Representation However, Women Executive Directors are Paid Far Less Than Male Counterparts India Has Far Fewer Women on Company Boards Than Developed Nations France Norway Canada UK Netherlands S. Africa USA Singapore India Numbers rounded off; this is not a comprehensive list; data for 2019; Source: Credit Suisse report ‘CS Gender 3000’ YOUNGSTERS HIT THE MOST BY JOB LOSSES More youngsters lost their jobs than senior and experienced employees during April-July Initially, in April, the lockdown led to job losses in every age bracket. Then, in May, there was a small but significant improvement in almost all age brackets except the 20-39 year age group; 1.76 crore people in the 20-39 age…

Manju Yagmk has radically changed the face of how real estate is perceived and marketed in India. Through her pioneering marketing approach and strategic initiatives, she has induced a paradigm shift in the industry. The Amrit Shakti brand by Nahar has become synonymous with superior quality, luxury, and aspiration with a strong brand driven customer orientation. BT got down to chatting with her on her journey so far and what is next for her. Excerpts from the chat: More than 30 years in the real estate, being known as a perception-breaker, building brand Nahar and taking it to the pinnacle of success, you have had an inspirational journey… It is true that I have spent a large number of years in this field, and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. The…

It’s double trouble for India — a health crisis and a tumbling economy, both at once. On one hand, Covid-19 cases in the country have exceeded 4.5 million, making it the worst affected after the US. On the other, the economy is in a free fall as gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 23.9 per cent in the April-June quarter. Largely, because over the past seven years, all four engines of growth – exports, private investment, consumption, and public expenditure — have crashed, one after another. The last two, as recently as the past three years. There is growing demand from industry and economists for an urgent second stimulus. But the Centre believes that must wait until a vaccine hits the market and economic activity resumes thereafter. Business Today spoke to…

Q Appliances market in India is a highly competitive segment. How does BSH differentiate itself from other brands in the market? How has that differentiation helped you to increase your market share? At BSH we have a three brand strategy in India, to address consumers in different segments 1. Mass-Premium and Premium Segments: Bosch as a brand caters to this set 2. Premium Segment: Siemens brand caters to this set 3. Luxury Segment: Gaggenau brand caters to this set Our aim is to continue and develop products that fit Indian consumers' needs the same time bring in the relevant products from our global portfolio. We are amongst the fastest growing brands in India in the segment and aim to keep this momentum going and introduce more contributions through localized offerings…