The mood at the Hotel Investment Conference South Asia (HICSA), the annual hospitality industry conference was rather upbeat. But hotel brand operators and owners remain cautiously optimistic of the outlook and are living on a hope that a third wave of the pandemic doesn't become a reality. Having just survived the unprecedented zero revenue situation, the two day confrence organised by consulting firm Hotelivate, was dotted with anecdotes and best practices adopted by the hotels of all hues.
In 1989 when Bajaj came out with their legendary and elegant Hamara Bajaj campaign, that looked more at apna India, rather than the scooter, and at all hues of scootered Indians, it drew millions of eyeballs and was brilliantly successful.
Militant labour policies compounded a poor security environment for capital in West Bengal and encouraged the business community to relocate. constraining the private sector's right to hire freely could well be the coup de grace. As with Calcutta/Kolkata, it will probably take a decade for Gurgaon/Gurugram to feel the difference, says Kanika Datta.
Amid the ongoing festival season in the country, the hiring of gig workers has zoomed across sectors as the businesses have begun opening up leading to an uptick in consumer sentiments and rising pent-up demand, according to experts. "In the third quarter, with the onset of festive season, we are witnessing a 400 per cent spike in the hiring for gig workers. Earlier, in the first quarter of this year, as many businesses and companies were not operating at full strength, growth was muted. "However, things began picking up and became more promising from the second quarter, as the demand for gig workers across sectors grew," Taskmo, a subsidiary of Quess Corp, co-founder Prashant Janadri told PTI.
India, the world's third-largest energy consumer and importer, on Wednesday warned of high oil prices hurting the nascent and fragile global economic recovery and floated an idea of long-term supply contracts that provide predictable and stable pricing. Speaking at the India Energy Forum by CERAWeek, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said there was a mismatch between demand for oil and the supplies producers such as OPEC+ were making and there was a case for raising the production. The world, he said, needs "predictable, stable and affordable" prices for it to recover back to pre-pandemic levels.
Preparing for the AFC Asian Cup, two of India's top women's team footballers are taking inspiration from their counterparts in hockey, who claimed a historic fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics.
Subhash K Jha picks 5 Hindi films that celebrate sibling bonding.
Unlike other top police officers, A A Khan spoke boldly --- be it while defending 'encounters' in many of which he was involved, or in tracing the cause of the ghastly Radhabai Chawl incident, recalls Jyoti Punwani. Encounters were useful, he said, because hardened criminals who were targeted were beyond reform and no good for society.
England head coach Chris Silverwood says he won't push star all-rounder Ben Stokes's return from a mental health-break despite the team's struggles in the ongoing Test series against India.
While, the government has readied a big legislative agenda, the Opposition is raring to corner the ruling dispensation over a host of issues, including handling of the second wave of COVID-19, rise in fuel prices and farmers' stir.
India opener KL Rahul said his side's victory at Lord's in the second Test against England will go down as one of their best, particularly as they had lost heavily at the venue in 2018.
Govt to play enabler not handler, India never had more decisive government: PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday cited his dispensation's push for wide-ranging reforms, including the privatisation of Air India, to assert that the country never had a more "decisive government". Launching the Indian Space Association (ISpA), an industry body aspiring to be the voice of the country's space sector, Modi noted that fields like mining, coal, defence and space have been opened to private players, and said his government's clear policy about public sector enterprises is to open those to private industry where its presence is not required. While opening a host of sectors, the government has built a regulatory environment in which priority has been given to national interest as well as the interests of different stakeholders, he said.
Norway's Birk Ruud claimed the first men's freeski Big Air Olympic gold
Regaining the lost sheen, sales of gold jewellery and coins are set to touch pre-COVID levels in volume terms on the auspicious Dhanteras as easing pandemic concerns and pent up demand saw consumers flocking to stores to buy the precious metal. Increased footfall at stores and brisk sales online as well as relatively softer gold prices compared to record Rs 57,000 per 10 grams level in August spurred increased buying, especially light weight offerings, on Tuesday. Dhanteras is considered to be auspicious for buying precious metals and other valuable items.
'The source of our music, the very notes of music itself have fallen silent.'
Well-known Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar died in Bangalore on Friday, October 29, following a heart attack, hospital sources said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled a Rs 39.45 lakh crore Budget with a view to fire up the key engines of the economy to sustain a world-beating recovery from the pandemic. This was Sitharaman's fourth Budget. While the taxpayers were left in the lurch, once again, was she able to cheer Corporate India?
'Laxmi and I firmly believed that while working, the egoistic word 'Main (I)' never interferes.'
There's no rush to recognition from the United States or any country we have spoken with around the world. It will be very dependent on their behaviour and whether they deliver on what the expectations are of the global community, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu of Indonesia on Monday bagged the women's doubles gold medal in badminton at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
'It is our right to protest and draw the attention of this government, which is sleeping and appears blind, as it has failed to see the pain and struggle of the jobless youth.'
Star Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Friday said she does not have much time to grieve over her Tokyo Games debacle and is gearing up for future challenges while young Anshu Malik suggested that a sports psychologist should be attached with the team to help them overcome nerves at big stage like the Olympics.
In a rare face off, captains of the auto industry have hit out at the government for not walking the talk. At an industry event in the capital on Wednesday, R C Bhargava, chairman of India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki, and Venu Srinivasan, chairman of TVS Motor, questioned the government's intent to support the auto sector. Revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj sat in the audience listening, before his turn came to counter them.
The Supreme Court on Monday observed it cannot give a 'judicial diktat' for sending children to schools disregarding the possibility of a fresh spike in COVID cases as it refused to entertain a Class 12 student's plea seeking resumption of physical classes across the country.
Union minister Subhas Sarkar courted a controversy on Wednesday with his remarks that Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's mother did not cradle him in her arms when he was a child because of his "not so fair complexion"
A gangster's recollections, a tennis champ's triumph and a two-timing teenager -- Sukanya Verma gives you OTT recommendations for the week.
The Bills adopted in 2017 for the same purpose during the AIADMK regime did not get the President's assent.
Leaders of several opposition parties took out a protest march in Delhi against the government on several issues, including Pegasus and alleged manhandling of their MPs in Rajya Sabha
The New Zealand Olympic Committee said its athletes had been preparing for a scenario where there were no fans present.
The situation inside the "bubble" stood in sharp contrast to outside, with a surge in infections fuelled by the Delta variant hitting daily records and for the first time crossing 5,000 in the host city, threatening to overwhelm Tokyo's hospitals.
Swamy died at the Holy Family Hospital, where he was admitted on May 29, in Mumbai on Monday, a day after he suffered a cardiac arrest and was put on ventilator support.
With Chen's silver, China has swept six badminton medals at Tokyo, more than any other country: a gold and silver in mixed doubles, a gold in women's singles, a silver in men's doubles, a silver in women's doubles and, now, a silver in men's singles.
Adhikari, leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly, denied the charge, saying that he had recently gone to Mehta's residence in Delhi regarding a case related to "post-poll violence" in the state but "could not meet him in person".
The ad for a 'lehnga' brand featuring Bollywood star Alia Bhatt as the much indulged daughter and granddaughter has fired debate on social media platforms and elsewhere on the age-old tradition of giving away the daughter.
Modi said India has taken an important step forward in protecting its youth population against the disease.
Protests at this time when efforts are underway to strengthen the PLA and keep morale high would be worrying for the military leadership, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and distinguished China expert.
Opportunity knocks for Serena Williams on the grass courts of Wimbledon next week when she faces a diminished field on her best surface at the famous All England Club.
The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan will inspire terrorists and trigger an "explosion" of extremism and security challenges for the world, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned on Thursday.
"It seems some people cannot digest that more women, SC, ST and OBC community members are becoming ministers", Modi said, and noted that several new ministers are children of farmers and also belong to OBC communities,