Daily Pulse India: “Behave Decently” You Lawmakers, ITC’s Next Gen, Aamir Responds

Startup India: Even as the Parliament gets ready for the winter session, which begins today, the government is simultaneously moving ahead with other things. A policy for startups is one. The finance ministry hopes to come up with a policy that supports startups in the manufacturing business, offer tax incentives and policies for business compliance and exits, which are different from conventional businesses. The prime minister hopes to unveil the policy as early as January and most of the top entrepreneurs have been roped in for their views and suggestions. A meeting today between the finance ministry officials and entrepreneurs, chaired by the junior minister Jayant Sinha, will kick off the process.

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Gearing Up For Winter: Speaking of the winter session, it appears the NDA government is determined not to let it be a washout like the monsoon session was. If you recall, issues such as Lalit Modi’s visa and the Vyapam scam disrupted proceedings and the business of reforms was sidelined. This time, with the spectre of intolerance hanging over its head, the government has indicated that all issues – from GST to tolerance – will be discussed in parliament. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has written to lawmakers asking them to “behave decently” during the session. Rating agency Moody’s has issued a warning to lawmakers, despite the furor its last report created. And we keep our fingers crossed.

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Aamir in the eye of the storm: The storm surround Bollywood actor Aamir Khan’s statements on intolerance and what was seen as a desire to leave the country, continued to play out on social media, even after the actor clarified his views in a statement and the complete transcript of his original remarks was released. Brands endorsed by the actor were the worst hit and Snapdeal, which currently has Khan as its brand ambassador, took the biggest brunt on the app stores. The e-commerce firm quickly distanced itself from his remarks. Hearteningly, it found backing from none other than Sachin Bansal, founder of rival Flipkart, who tweeted his support.

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 Volkswagen’s India car: Even as it tackles what could be called the auto industry’s most shameful scandal, the German carmaker is moving ahead with its plan to manufacture a compact sedan in India. It has promised to invest $90 million in the plant.

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ITC’s next gen: The consumer company has elevated three officials with between 7-10 years of remaining service to top positions, heightening speculation that it is preparing for a successor to chairman YC Deveshwar, whose term as of now ends in 2017. ITC which started off as a cigarette company (with British American Tobacco as a key promoter) has successfully transitioned into packaged foods and other consumer goods under Deveshwar, shaking off the stigma of a tobacco company. So, its next play under its new leadership will be interesting to watch.

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Handset battles: It’s not just the telecom companies that are gearing up for a 4G war. Handset makers such as Micromax and Samsung (India’s top 2) are intent on offering 4G enabled phones in every price bracket to keep competition at bay. Samsung had lost its top spot in India to Micromax last year when momentary shift in focus to the high-end segment gave the homegrown phone maker the opening it needed in the budget category. This time, the South Korean mobile giant is taking no chances; the two are battling it out across segments. Other phone makers such as Lava and Karbon too have joined the fray.

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Masala bonds, or the Indian version of dim sum bonds announced by PM Modi during his London visit earlier this month, could help Indian companies raise as much as $5 billion over the next three years, according to S&P.

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Cover Image: Remembering martyrs on the anniversary of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, which resulted in two of the city's top hotels being held under siege and top cops and soldiers losing their lives. That's the Taj Mahal hotel in the background.

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