TMSEp197: WTO report card, Ashish Khanna, Crypto markets, RBI's MPC

Spread between Lake Geneva and snow-clad Alps and Jura mountains, this tiny city of Switzerland has been offering a perfect setting to global leaders to sit and iron out differences. Like over 200 other organisations, Geneva is also home to the headquarters of the World Trade Organization or WTO. And its 12th ministerial conference drew to a close on Friday -- with some agreements and disagreements. Union minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal called it a “spectacular success” for India. But experts insist that it was a mixed bag. So what exactly happened in Geneva this time? Did India achieve what it wanted? 

About six months ago-- and about 1,000 miles away from the Swiss city of Geneva -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a pledge to the world. He had promised to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070 in Glasgow. And PM’s another promise to produce 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2030 was a step in that direction. But the government cannot meet this target alone. Tata Power Renewables looks all set to help the country in meeting this ambitious target. In an interview with Business Standard’s S Dinakar, its president Ashish Khanna tells about how the company – which plans to grow five-fold in next five years – is gearing up to meet the challenge and what the industry expects from the government?

After renewable energy, let us move on to the world of cryptocurrencies. Despite recovering mild losses post the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance, crypto-currency markets continue to remain under the shadow of uncertainty. They have dropped about 70% from their all-time highs, which they had hit in November 2021. Find out whether the crypto party is over, and what’s the road ahead.

It is the same story everywhere. Countries are reeling under high inflation, their central banks are nudging up lending rates to tame it while helpless investors are counting their losses in market crashes. In India too, RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee had raised the repo rate by 50 basis point early this month. But ever wondered who all are part of this committee and what is its mandate? Let us find out in this episode of the podcast.