Dear Niveshak,

This month we bring to you Race for the Summit – Vod an Idea as our special coverage. The Telecom Sector of India is creating buzz after buzz in the markets of the Nation and the World of Finance. With the merger of Reliance Communications with Aircel and inception of Reliance Jio, it’s the turn of Idea and Vodafone to upsurge the thrill in the Telecom Sector of the Country with an estimated $23 billion merger between the two heavyweights of the Industry. However, even with the merger, one of
their major shortcomings will be the lack of the optical-fibre reach to the customers. Hence, how does this merger unfold for the telecom giants is yet to be seen!

The government recently launched a very ambitious Direct Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme in the budget 2016-17. However, the scheme failed miserably garnering just around Rs.1,200 crore as compared to around 2.6 lakh pending tax cases that have close to Rs.5.16 lakh crore locked in. None of the high-profile retrospective tax cases that involved firms like Vodafone & Cairn Energy opted to settle under this scheme.

Emphasizing on infrastructure development, India is also seeking a funding amounting to around $2 billion from the NDB (New Development Bank) for its infrastructure projects and has urged the multi-national bank for a faster disbursement of loans, as per a statement released by our Finance Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley. On the magazine front, the Article of the Month talks about the revolution of impact investing in India. Impact Investing has witnessed an unprecedented rise since 2007 and is expected to continue for the times to come. However, the responsibility to drive change for social betterment cannot be left on the shoulders of the government alone. The corporate houses need to be equally responsible if we want to make an impact at the bottom of the pyramid in the coming years.

In the FinSight, the author aims to discuss one the most important question of our time, ‘Is there any alternative to the China model of growth for India?’ With the global economy going through a massive transition, the world’s eyes are set on the BRIC and MINT countries, waiting for them to emerge as the new economic superpowers. However, with China slowing down and India showing no super-normal growth as expected from it, the economists and industrialists are cogitating over and over again, as to what is in store for India after all.

In the FinGyaan section, the author talks about the harmful effects of low interest rates on an economy. The author starts by asking a few simple questions; How low is low? What is low for a mature and developed economy and what is the definition of low for an emerging economy? Then he moves on to discuss the impact of low interest rates on banks, financial institutions and markets. The classroom section talks about Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) which is an indicator of the value of currency. It will help the readers in developing a perspective by explaining the concept as well as its practical application.

Finally, we would like to thank our readers for their immense support and encouragement. You remain our prime motivating factor that keeps our spirits high and gives us the vigour and vitality to keep working hard. We hope you had a great month and wish you the best for the new one.

Stay Invested!
Team Niveshak