CII president Rajiv Memani, who is chairman and CEO EY India, describes 2025 a year of reforms and calls for the momentum to continue. In an interview with TOI he flags power, mining, ease of doing business and judicial reforms as focus areas. Excerpts:There have been a series of reforms this year, starting with the Budget to change in GST, labour codes and insurance laws and a rush of trade agreements. Do you see govt in overdrive?Relative to what’s happening in the world, India ending half year with 8% GDP growth is remarkable. The other parameters are also looking good, including fiscal deficit, corporate and bank balance sheets. There have been reforms and several steps on ease of doing business. This year will be remembered for the reforms and the trade deals and hopefully that momentum will continue.What is the wish list for the coming months?The CII membership has looked at it sector-by-sector and they can be broken into ease of doing business and factor reforms. On factor reforms, there is energy and mining. While energy costs have come down, corporates still have to pay at least Rs 1.50 more per unit due to cross subsidisation. Also, you have to pay for access charges. State distribution companies are incurring losses. There is a need for aggressive privatisation of discoms. Similarly, opening up of the mining sector, particularly those mines that are locked up, will help reduce manufacturing cost significantly. In logistics, we need large investments in high speed rails. We analysed India’s imports. Of the roughly $725 billion imports this year, $250-300 billion will include energy, fertiliser, rare earth. They were difficult to substitute, but you still have $300-400 billion of imports that we can look at manufacturing in India. We looked at ease of doing business. Digitisation of land records is taking place, can we look at tokenisation? Judicial reforms is a big area of focus given that cases are piling up. Unless we find a way of dealing with it, it will choke growth.

How are US tariffs hurting business and what is your recommendation to govt?Our goods exports are still up but the composition has changed. The trade diversification piece is working well, especially in food products, shrimps. There are some sectors that are impacted and some are labour intensive. A lot of new contracts are signed around this time and a lot of businesses will try to sustain because winning a new contract & building new relationship again is not that easy.How is industry preparing for the new labour codes?Companies are preparing, a lot of implementation has to happen at the state level. They are also requesting govt to train. First, due to digitisation, compliances can be done digitally and a portal for all states can be helpful. Second is that getting the inspectors and others also fully trained. Third, there shouldn’t be any inconsistency between what the states recommend and what is there in the codes. Fourth, there are some questions around whether this will be retrospectively done or prospectively done. What are your recommendations on the tax side in the budget?A lot of our tax recommendations are to deal with simplification, whether you look at mergers, demergers, acquisitions, which are pain points. Second is dispute resolution with 85% cases stuck at the level of Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals). On customs, there is talk of reducing the number of slabs.Disinvestment is one area where there’s been some slowdown. How can that be activated? Over the next two years, we should be looking at over Rs 2 lakh crore of disinvestments or privatisation. You can build some cash reserves which you can use for much greater productive use from an economic standpoint, such as infrastructure creation… There is a lot of uncertainty vis a vis China and other countries. When you’re looking at manufacturing and acquiring strategic resources, rare earths, funding some of the newer areas like aerospace, defence, medical devices, look at MSMEs... What we have today is not working efficiently. So, whether we consolidate all that into one ministry or we consolidate that at a central level somewhere so that it works at a rapid pace… We can also on-board some fund management experts and see how we can create maybe a fund of funds.

NEW DELHI: India hit out at Bangladesh and suspended visa operations at its mission in Chittagong on Sunday, amid a wave of protests there with an anti-India hue sparked by the death of radical activist Sharif Osman Hadi, which has seen the lynching of a Hindu man.Describing as “horrend-ous” the killing of 25-year-old Dipu Chandra Das, a garment factory worker beaten to death by a mob and set ablaze for alleged blasphemy, MEA slammed attempts in Bangladesh to draw false equivalence between protests targeting its facilities in that country and the one outside the Bangladesh mission in Delhi.India’s assistant high commission in Chittagong suspended visa operations over concern for safety of the centre’s staff and premises in view of angry protests, which saw demonstrators come close to the diplomatic facility on Thursday despite presence of Bangladesh security personnel.

Bring to justice perpetrators of Dipu’s ‘barbaric killing’, New Delhi tells Dhaka

Due to the recent security incident, Indian visa oper-ations at IVAC Chittagong will remain suspended from Dec 21, 2025, until further notice, the Indian Visa Appli-cation Centre (IVAC) said in a statement.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in Delhi urged the interim govt in Dhaka to bring to justice the perpetrators of the “barbaric killing” of Dipu, leading Bangladesh to protest.“The incident should not be conflated with the security of minorities,” foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain said in Dhaka, adding, “He was a Bangladeshi citizen who was killed, and Bangladesh took immediate action. Several arrests have already been made.”He also claimed that the protests in New Delhi left the “Bangladesh high commissioner and his family feeling threatened”.The assistant Indian high Commissioner’s residence in Chittagong was pelted with stones by a mob on Thursday, the day Hadi died days after being shot in head by masked gunmen. Thursday also saw massive “anti-India” protests outside the assistant Indian high commissions in Khulna and Rajshahi, and on Wednesday, around the high commission in Dhaka.In an apparent attempt to suggest that the Bangladesh high commission in New Delhi faced a security threat of similar severity, media reports Bangladesh said a demonstration by “Hindu extremists” outside the facility over Dipu’s death in Mymensingh threatened its security, drawing a sharp rejoinder from the MEA.India trashed such claims as “misleading propaganda”. There was “no attempt to breach the fence or create a security situation at any time,” the MEA said, adding police dispersed the group after a few minutes and visual evidence of these events is publicly available. “We have noted misleading propaganda in sections of the Bangladesh media on the incident,” Jaiswal said.The MEA said about 20-25 youths had gathered outside the Bangladesh high commission on Saturday and raised slogans in protest against the “horrendous killing” of Dipu.“India continues to keep a close watch on the evolving situation in Bangladesh. Our officials remain in touch with Bangladesh authorities and have conveyed to them our strong concerns at the attacks on minorities,” Jaiswal said.Pictures of the two protests pointed out the contrast as angry protesters came in close proximity to the Indian facility in Chittagong, while a much smaller crowd stood in protest at a safe distance from the Bangladesh high commission.Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen had on Saturday introduced another dimension to the horrific killing of Dipu, claiming on X that police had initially rescued him from the mob and asked if police with sympathies for extremists handed him back to the violent crowd determined to kill or they were overpowered. “They held a full-blown celebration — beating Dipu, hanging him, burning him — a jihadist festival,” she said.On Sunday, two more persons were held in the Mymensingh lynching case, taking the total arrests to 12.Internal situation has deteriorated in Bangladesh after the death of Haidi, a prominent face in 2024 anti-govt protests that led to then PM Sheikh Hasina abdicating & fleeing to India. Known for his anti-India utterances, he was a leader of radical group Inquilab Mancho & had shared a map of greater Bangladesh that showed India’s north east as part of his country.

India’s stock market has become one of the calmest in the world – so calm that it’s prompting a rethink of strategies among players in the country’s vast derivatives space.Despite geopolitical flare ups and a recent global selloff in risk assets, Nifty has barely budged for months as domestic money overwhelms foreign flows and derivatives trading curbs choke off volatility. The India NSE Volatility Index, a gauge tracking expectations for future swings, ended Friday at an all-time low.

For the traders powering the world’s largest options market by volume, that’s making it harder to profit from the well-known strategies. Volatility is the engine of derivatives trading: when markets swing, investors pay up to hedge, and the cost of contracts rise. When stocks are calm, premiums shrink, eroding returns for option sellers and leaving traditional strategies less profitable.“The market has become more efficient and competitive – that’s meant lower returns for standard vol-selling strategies,” said Nitesh Gupta, partner and derivatives trader at Karna Stock Broking. “In this environment, trading desks will have to increase risk to make better returns.”A turning point came last year, when Sebi launched a sweeping crackdown aimed at curbing speculative retail activity and addressing losses among individual traders. The markets regulator scrapped several popular weekly options, cutting out the very products that had amplified intraday swings and drying out volume.The impact is clear: While activity has bounced off from a low in Feb, notional turnover has averaged almost Rs 240 lakh crore ($2.7 trillion) a day this year, down 35% from 2024. It’s the first annual decline since data going back to 2017.That drop in derivatives activity has fed back into the underlying market: Nifty has moved less than 1.5% for 151 consecutive sessions, a run that’s nearing a record set in 2023, and its three-month realised volatility has slipped toward 8 points – lower than in any major global market. (This is a Bloomberg story)

PUNE/NAGPUR: BJP-led Mahayuti delivered a sweeping verdict after two rounds of the first phase of Maharashtra’s civic elections, winning presidents’ posts in nearly 207 of 288 municipal councils and nagar panchayats, mirroring its assembly election performance just over a year ago. Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was reduced to 44 posts. Results were declared on Sunday after polling on Dec 2 and 20. BJP emerged as biggest gainer with victories in over 117 local bodies, cementing the position of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena secured 53 posts, while Ajit Pawar’s NCP won 37. “We have won 117 presidents’ posts, and more than 75% posts are with our Mahayuti partners. This is a repeat of the assembly election,” Fadnavis said. CM Devendra Fadnavis said, “Compared to 2017, our elected representatives have doubled… This is the biggest win in local elections in the last 25 years for any party.”Final results of the 6,859 councillor seats were not released by the state election commission till the time of going to press. But BJP claimed to have won over 3,000 of these seats.Despite emerging as a distant challenger statewide, Congress checked BJP advances in parts of Vidarbha. Western Maharashtra saw Mahayuti allies battling each other as Congress and NCP (SP) struggled to hold ground. Meanwhile, BJP made gains in Mumbai and Konkan, encroaching into traditional Shiv Sena, PWP and NCP pockets. Shinde expanded Sena’s footprint beyond Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), finishing second across the state.North Maharashtra backed BJP strongly, especially in Jalgaon under minister Girish Mahajan. In Marathwada, expected gains from leaders such as Ashok Chavan and Munde cousins failed to materialise. Congress won just 28 civic bodies statewide. Sharad Pawar-led NCP managed seven, while Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena secured nine.Vidarbha delivered a fractured verdict. Congress halted BJP in several councils from Chandrapur to Buldhana and Ballarpur to Wardha, while BJP retained dominance in Nagpur, Gadchiroli and parts of Bhandara.Ajit Pawar-led NCP won 35 of 41 seats in Baramati region, the same undivided NCP had won in 2017. NCP (SP), led by Sharad Pawar, managed to win only one seat, while BSP and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) also won a seat each. Three seats went to Independent candidates while BJP failed to open its account.The outcome is seen as a curtain-raiser to municipal corporation polls due Jan 15 and comes amid anger over flood-hit kharif crops and opposition charges that funds were diverted to populist schemes such as Mukhyamantri Mazhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. Polls also marked first statewide civic exercise after Shiv Sena and NCP splits, consolidating Shinde and Ajit Pawar as undisputed leaders of their factions.Biggest beneficiary remains Fadnavis. After BJP’s poor 2024 Lok Sabha showing — nine of 48 seats — and his offer to resign, he led Mahayuti to an assembly landslide of over 230 seats, with BJP winning 132. Opposition allegations of “vote chori” and EVM manipulation resurfaced but lost traction after civic sweep.Analysts blamed MVA for failing to capitalise on farm distress. Former CM Prithviraj Chavan admitted Congress could not raise youth and farmer issues effectively.

Pune: Deputy CM Ajit Pawar on Sunday proved his dominance over Baramati, the Pawar family’s traditional stronghold, as well as Pune district as the municipal council elections delivered a clear win for his faction of NCP in the first civic contest since the party’s split.NCP won 35 of the 41 seats in Baramati, the same as undivided NCP in the 2017 civic polls. NCP (SP), led by Sharad Pawar, managed to win only one seat, while Bahujan Samaj Party and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha won a seat each. Three seats went to independent candidates, while BJP failed to open its account. NCP secured the presidents’ posts in 10 of the 17 local bodies in Pune district, followed by Shiv Sena with four and BJP with three. All three Mahayuti partners swept the polls in the district. Of the 398 councillor posts it contested, NCP topped with 152 seats, followed by BJP (88) and Sena (55). MVA was restricted to 13 seats, with NCP (SP) winning six, Congress four and Sena (UBT) three. The Baramati municipal council of 41 seats witnessed elections for only 33 wards, as eight candidates from NCP were elected unopposed. Ajit Pawar’s faction also secured the mayor’s post, defeating candidates from both NCP (SP) and BJP. “The victory in Pune district is the result of the hard work put in by party workers. These elections were held after nearly nine years, and the local bodies were without elected representatives for almost four years. The results show that not only NCP but also Shiv Sena and BJP won in many seats, which indicates that the people trust Mahayuti,” Ajit Pawar said. This was the first civic election in Baramati in which members of the Pawar family were pitted against each other. The two sides had also faced each other in the LS polls, where NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule emerged victorious, as well as the assembly elections last year, which was won by Ajit Pawar. Although the Baramati polls were seen as a faceoff between Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar, local leaders said the real fight was between Ajit Pawar and his nephew Yugendra Pawar, who led the campaign for NCP (SP). “Neither Sharad Pawar nor Supriya Sule campaigned in Baramati. Yugendra Pawar was the only leader holding meetings and campaigning on the ground, while Ajit Pawar himself addressed rallies and remained actively involved throughout the campaign,” a senior NCP functionary said. The contest in most civic bodies in Pune was restricted to Mahayuti partners, with candidates from NCP, BJP and Sena pitted against each other. In some places, the allies also faced each other through local tie-ups. Talegaon Dabhade was the only local body where NCP and BJP contested together, with an agreement to share the mayoral post for 2.5 years each.

Lionel Messi (File Photo)

KOLKATA: Messi received Rs 89 crore for his India tour and another Rs 11 crore was paid to the govt as tax, Satadru Dutta, the organiser of the event, told police. Dutta was arrested within hours of the mayhem breaking out at Salt Lake stadium during the Messi event, with the police holding him responsible for the disorder, him being the chief organiser. Police have seized Rs 22 crore from Dutta’s various bank accounts and frozen the accounts following leads from the SIT, formed by the state, which carried out a raid on his Rishra residence on Friday. Dutta’s interrogations over the past 48 hours were led by security director Peeyush Pandey. “Dutta claimed Rs 100 crore was spent on the Messi tour, with some of the funds coming from sponsors and the rest from ticket sales. But the total figures attributed to ticket sales and sponsors cover 60%-70% of the total cost, leading investigators to doubt his claims,” said an officer.

The investigators suspect that black money might have been used in Messi’s show. However, it has not been clarified whether this amount includes money from ticket sales or funds received from sponsors. Police also said Dutta had not stated anything about any financial irregularities related to the event. No senior SIT official came on record on the developments, citing procedures and legal hassles. The Bidhannagar Police had earlier asked the online ticketing partner not to release the ticket money proceeds to Dutta or his company’s accounts.Dutta reportedly made several other “explosive” claims. He claimed that though initially about 150 ground access cards were issued, he had to triple the number based on “pressures from multiple quarters, all of whom were influential.” Even this claim was not confirmed officially.According to police sources, Dutta, blamed “everyone” around Messi on Dec 13, for the fiasco except himself. During his questioning, Dutta repeatedly claimed that Messi did not appreciate being touched on the back or hogged for selfies by “random people.” Messi even informed the officials responsible for his own security of such a development. Despite repeated announcements for people to move away, it was of no use, Dutta told cops, according to sources. The police have already filed two cases in this incident so far. A suo moto case was registered at Bidhannagar South Police Station. The charges include causing unrest, vandalism, spreading violence, and activities endangering public safety. Additionally, several non-bailable charges have been filed against Dutta.

England legend Geoffrey Boycott has lashed out at the head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes after Australia won its fifth straight Ashes urn on Sunday (December 21) in Adelaide. Australia crushed England by 82 runs in the third Test at the Adelaide Oval to take a 3-0 lead in the ongoing five-match Test series.

Earlier, in the first two tests, Ben Stokes and his team could not even survive for more than three days, and now their heavy loss in Adelaide has reignited debate over their ultra-aggressive Bazball style introduced by Brendon McCullum and the skipper himself.

Geoffrey Boycott says Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes must change or resign

After Australia sealed the Ashes 2025-26, the Bazball approach is now being blamed for their downfall. In the beginning, Bazball felt like a breath of fresh air in Test cricket. England played fearless cricket, players backed their instincts, and the results were also impressive.

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But the ongoing Ashes 2025-26 has shown the cracks. England kept attacking even when the match situation clearly demanded patience, control, and smarter decisions, and now Geoffrey Boycott has launched a brutal attack on the leadership group for promoting such a mindset.

The well-known broadcaster believes that England has confused confidence with overconfidence. Boycott has pointed out that the Test team is so committed to playing one way that they have stopped reading the game properly, and that stubborn approach has hurt them badly Down Under.

Lot of credit should go to Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes: Geoffrey Boycott

He openly blamed McCullum and Stokes for another Ashes loss for England and strongly demanded they stay away from Bazball if they want to survive in the Test cricket.

Boycott wrote in his column for The Telegraph: “A lot of credit should go to Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes for what they have done for our cricket, but it is obvious that Bazball has run its race. Hubris has taken over from common sense, and that cannot be allowed to carry on.”

He added, “Stokes and McCullum are like men digging a hole to nowhere. If what you are doing isn’t working, then stop digging. Change is absolutely necessary to step up to the next level.”

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Geoffrey Boycott questions Ben Stokes’ captaincy, warns England against blind aggression

The former England batter also raised questions about Ben Stokes as captain. He admitted that the star all-rounder is an important player for the team, but he is not above accountability. Boycott called for Stokes to adjust his own attacking instincts for the team’s balance.

Boycott has openly demanded the sacking of Stokes and McCullum if the captain and coach are not ready to move away from that aggressive approach, as it will only lead to their further downfall in the longest format of the game.

He signed off by saying, “You do not want to lose him, but if he doesn’t see that a change of attitude is needed, then you have to find a new captain.”

The rest of the two Ashes Tests will be played at Melbourne and Sydney on December 26 and January 4, respectively, and the England side must be keen on saving their pride Down Under.

Ben Stokes. (Image: File)

Australia secured the Ashes with a commanding 82-run victory over England in the third Test at Adelaide Oval on Sunday. This result gave the hosts an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.Jamie Smith’s attacking 60 and partnerships with Jacks and Carse briefly raised England’s hopes after starting Day 5 at 207 for 6. Mitchell Starc broke the resistance after lunch, with key catches in the deep helping Australia wrap up the innings.

With Australia securing a fourth consecutive Ashes series triumph at home, here’s some of the standout reaction: “It feels pretty awesome. It wasn’t easy today, but we got it done. It’s an excited changing room” said Australia captain Pat Cummins praising his side’s resolve after a tough finish.Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc felt England made Australia earn the victory, “They made us work for it. A bit of a flat wicket and they played pretty well but another Ashes win and it’s been a great atmosphere all week, all series.”“A little bit of nerves there with some really good batting by Jamie Smith and Will Jacks. We held firm as we have been all series” admitted Australia batsman Marnus Labuschagne. England captain Ben Stokes was honest about the pain of defeat, “Everyone is hurting and quite emotional about it. It hurts, it sucks, but we ain’t going to stop.”The English team captain also acknowledged how Australia outplayed England in just 11 days of cricket.“Australia have been able to execute things on a much more consistent basis than us, with the ball, with the bat and in the field. They’ve been able to outdo us on a much higher level.” Australia’s Alex Carey, named player of the match, said “We know England are such a good cricket team and we’re going to be challenged right to the end today it was a real grind.” England head coach Brendon McCullum praised his players’ effort, “I think the boys were excellent today. They showed some great application. They bounced off each other and tried to take the game as deep as they could. We didn’t get there, but I thought it was a fine achievement.”“A moment Scott Boland will never forget. He goes down in history as the man who took the wicket to win the Ashes. That is a special moment for any player and any team.” Former England captain Alastair Cook commentating on TV as the final wicket fell.Ex-spinner Phil Tufnell said “It has been a thoroughly professional performance. Australia have out-thought England in many situations. You have got to take your hat off.” Pat Cummins cast doubt on injured spinner Nathan Lyon’s chances of featuring in the remaining Tests in Melbourne and Sydney and said “I doubt he’d be right.” Despite the setback, Stokes struck a defiant note, “We have got so much to play for, and we will be flying into these next two games.”

KOLKATA: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said seeing the Sangh through the lens of BJP would be a “big mistake”. Bhagwat, who tried to define “Hindus” and the “Indian society”, said the goal of the Sangh is organisation of Hindu society, but it is not aimed at opposing others.Speaking at Kolkata Vyakhyanmala, an interactive session to celebrate the centenary of RSS, Bhagwat said, “Many have a tendency to understand Sangh through the lens of BJP. That is a big mistake,” while trying to clearly separate the two.

“Swayamsevaks in Sangh work in varied fields. Some are in politics. Some are in the party in office (at the Centre),” he added, explaining the genesis and growth of the Sangh during his over an hour-long speech.Bhagwat said, “There are people who spread wrong narratives about the Sangh. Interpretation of the Sangh should be objective and not through secondary sources. The goal of the Sangh is organisation of the entire Hindu society, but it is not aimed at opposing others…If you see that Sangh is anti-Muslim, you can make (that) your opinion. But change your opinion if you don’t find that.”Stressing on the need for a political awakening in the state, Bhagwat said Congress was created as a means for political awakening and struggle for Independence. “There was a large-scale political awakening and people fought for this country. We got freedom…But there was another section which stressed on social reforms before Independence. The tradition started with Raja Ram Mohan Roy,” he said.Bhagwat said: “We have to organise society and not create any separate organisation within society.” Harping on diversity in “Hindu society”, Bhagwat said, “Hindu is not a name but an attribute and denotes a nature. Those who respect their motherland are Hindus. They could have different languages, rituals, attire or eating habits.”The RSS chief added that Muslims should understand that they might be different “in terms of worship”, but they are part of the unified entity in terms of “nation, culture and society”. Terming the proposed Babri Masjid a “political conspiracy”, he said, “It is neither in favour of Muslims, nor Hindus. It is happening for the votes”.Criticising efforts to construct a temple or mosque from the public exchequer, Bhagwat said the Somnath temple was built with money pooled in from society. “The govt did not fund that (Somnath temple). Ram Mandir was not built by the govt. The govt should not get into the construction of temples,” he said.