RBI deputy governor Viral Acharya has put in his papers six months before his term ends on January 20, 2020. Acharya, who joined the RBI from New York University’s Stern School of Business, was a close aide of former governor Urjit Patel and it was his fiery speech last October that brought out differences between the central bank and the government. Many expected he would step down with Patel, given that he was more voluble in his criticism of the government - both in public speeches and in the contentious board meetings that took place last year. However, after he stayed on for three monetary policy review meetings after Patel’s exit, it did appear as though he had settled down.
Nearly impossible to run ops: BSNL
Ailing state-owned telco BSNL has sent an SOS to the government, seeking immediate cash infusion as it is finding it “nearly impossible” to continue operations and even manage £85 million salary liability for June as outstanding liabilities of nearly £1.3 billion have made its business “unsustainable”. “The gap between monthly revenues and bare expenses to continue operations as a going concern has reached to a level where continuing with the BSNL operations would be nearly impossible without immediate infusion of adequate equity,” Puran Chandra, senior general manager at BSNL’s corporate budget and banking division, said in a letter to the joint secretary in the telecom ministry (who also sits on the board of BSNL). In the letter, sent last week, the public-sector company has sought the government’s advice on the next “course of action” for deciding the fate of the ailing corporation.
Tata’s trusted man joins RIL
Ratan Tata’s trusted lieutenant R Venkataramanan has joined Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries. Venkataramanan, who quit Tata Trusts recently amid allegations of misuse of I-T exemptions and was under the lens of investigative agencies, joined RIL recently. Venkat, as he is called, will assist in health and education initiatives that are part of the conglomerate’s social programmes. He joined the $90-billion textile-to-telecom group as a consultant, said sources. Venkat, 44, is one of the few top executives and long-timers from the Tata group to move to RIL. This wasn’t the case in the past. The two conglomerates restricted recruiting talent from each other and didn’t have much business alliances. However, in recent years, the two have been collaborating in social and other areas. Venkat was with Tata Trusts for five years until March of this year.
Weakening growth a worry: RBI governor
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das had raised concerns over growth impulses that had clearly weakened and called for decisive monetary policy action before voting for a rate cut earlier this month. While announcing the policy on June 6, Das had said the rate cut was aimed at accommodating growth concerns by supporting efforts to boost aggregate demand by reinvigorating private investment activity. The RBI last week released minutes of the monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting on June 4 and 6. These minutes reveal that the governor was more worried about growth than he appeared to be in the monetary policy statement. In the meeting, Das said that growth momentum had slowed down, and investment activity has decelerated sharply. “On the supply side, agriculture and allied activities contracted, while manufacturing activity weakened significantly. Service sector growth remained resilient, though construction activity decelerated markedly,” Das said.
