SCEPTICAL

From accolades to scepticism: An eventful story of EVMs

When the first elector presses a button on the ballot unit to vote in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the electronic voting machine (EVM) will have reached the important milestone of being used in five parliamentary polls since 2004. The journey of the EVM has been quite eventful with several political parties questioning its reliability and others hailing how quickly results are announced with little scope of rigging.

Ukraine's top diplomat tells sceptics at the UN that his country 'will win the war'

Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, asserts Ukraine's determination to win the war against Russia, urging global support. On the eve of the invasion's second anniversary, he emphasizes the need for nations to back Ukraine, ensuring victory. Meanwhile, Russia's UN Ambassador denies Russia's aggression, blaming the West. The UN marks the anniversary as President Zelenskyy seeks more US military aid. Kuleba criticizes suggestions of negotiation, highlighting Russia's destructive aims and the failure of past peace efforts. He urges support for Zelenskyy's peace plan and emphasizes Ukraine's resilience and commitment to victory.

Can death hoaxes change our attitude towards news of death online, with scepticism taking precedence over sadness?

The death hoax surrounding Poonam Pandey has intensified public scepticism towards celebrity death news. Karthik Srinivasan, a communications strategy consultant, believes that people will now seek more visible proof of celebrity deaths, leading to a focus on morbid details and a worsening coexistence of fake and genuine news.

Paytm crisis: RBI has sown scepticism among payment cos & it may want to reconsider its position

Central banks are meant to ensure that regulated entities are financially sound and operationally secure. To this end, they must be as diligent in monitoring as swift in exercising punitive action; transparent with all stakeholders, including the public; and ensure they maintain market stability at all costs. In the case of PPB, RBI may have fallen a little short.

Sceptics say $6-trillion cash waiting on sidelines is a mirage

So say a pack of stock skeptics who, while not counseling selling out of the market, warn that some of the bull cases going around suffer from some optimistic framings.

After Mallikarjun Kharge's 'appeal', CWC cheers for Rahul Yatra 2; some sceptical

The CWC announced no date, but the yatra is expected to be from the second week of January and mostly on bus, and on foot in city areas. It may start from Manipur or Arunachal and conclude February end in Gujarat. Some advised against a yatra by foot and for use of vehicles to cover the path quickly. One person said that yatra-II would run right into BJP's mobilisation for the Ram Temple inauguration, and therefore the party should be ready to deal with the narrative.

7.7% H1 growth leaves 'sceptics gasping and woefully behind curve': RBI article

The article on the state of the economy published in the Reserve Bank's December Bulletin on Wednesday also said CPI-based retail inflation is expected to ease to 4.6 per cent in the first three quarters of 2024-25 from 5.6 per cent in November. It said the pace of global growth may slow further in 2024 while disinflation at varying pace in different geographies may pave the way for interest rate reductions.

Oil prices fall on China concerns, scepticism on OPEC+ cuts

GLOBAL-Oil prices fall on China concerns, scepticism on OPEC+ cuts

Exercise professional scepticism while evaluating fraud at cos: NFRA tells auditors

Reiterating various provisions under the company's law and auditing standards, NFRA stressed that a "statutory auditor shall exercise his/her own professional scepticism while evaluating fraud and need not be influenced by legal opinion provided by the company or its management".

Morgan Stanley hails 'significant changes' in India since 2014

Paul Ormerod's investment rules for success for sceptical investors

Theoretical economist Paul Ormerod says that failure is the defining characteristic of biological, social, and economic systems. But he doesn’t think that’s a bad thing as expecting failure, and reacting flexibly is essential to success.

Is the global supply chain crisis over? NY Fed says yes, stakeholders in India remain sceptical

A recent announcement by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York claims global supply chains are returning to normal levels. However, several experts in India are not yet convinced by the observation.

Why Omkar Tanksale is sceptical about TCS outlook going ahead

TCS's Q1 top-line growth of 1.6% and flat quarter-on-quarter margin is in line with expectations. The real focus should be on TCS's outlook and commentary on verticals, such as BFSI, retail, and high tech, which may experience delays in decision-making or automation processes. The analyst expects $6-8 billion deal wins, but the concern is the engagement for the following quarters. The order book remains strong at $10 billion, employee attrition has fallen to 20.1%, and TCS plans to keep margins at 26-28%, but hiring has been pending.

Sceptical about PLI scheme; time to reverse customs duty hike: Arvind Panagariya

“Certainly, PLI as well as protection can give a boost in certain sectors that get the protection and sectors that get the subsidy will undoubtedly do better. It improves the profitability for the entrepreneurs and so those sectors will do better. The question is whether manufacturing as a whole will do better, and that we have not seen. Also, it is not sustainable,” says Arvind Panagariya, Former VC, NITI Aayog.

India's success in popularizing digital payment has proved sceptics wrong: Nirmala Sitharaman

​​During the lockdown induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, people received money in their bank accounts just by pressing a button, she said. "If they could not go to the bank or did not know how to take it, the bank Mitra went to the village and delivered their money," she said.

Investors sceptical about Zomato’s acquisition of Blinkit: Jefferies

A lot of investors expressed a fundamental question on Blinkit’s existence, with comments like "why someone want grocery delivery in 10-min?", the note said.

Twitter employees sceptical about their future under Elon Musk

Musk told Twitter employees that he particularly wants to be involved in the product and expects the team to listen to his input on new features.

Media speculates Pope Francis's retirement; experts are sceptical

It was announced recently that in August, Pope Francis would be visiting L’Aquila, the Central city of Italy for a feast initiated by Pope Celestine V. This news has created a buzz in the Italian media.

Experts sceptical about CMIE's unemployment data

The overall unemployment rate in India has increased to 7.83 per cent in April 2022 as compared to 7.60 per cent in the previous month, CMIE said in its report.

Caution, scepticism in Congress as leadership pushes for Prashant Kishor

Whispers have started in Congress circles, questioning the electoral/organisational credentials of many leaders in the Sonia Gandhi-picked panel that was examining Kishor's proposals and giving suggestions, even as the change seekers' camp appears to be taking a dim view of the exercise and they might meet soon.

Shanghai urges cooperation with COVID tests amid rising scepticism

Residents shared stories on social media about busloads of people being taken from their homes and sent into quarantine, including babies and the elderly.

Russia pledges to scale back, but Ukraine is sceptical

At their latest talks with the Russian side in Istanbul, Ukraine's delegation laid a framework under which the country would declare itself neutral and its security would be guaranteed by an array of other nations.