New Leaders At The Helm
A winning mindset can transform an underdog into a champion, conqueror, and achiever. You’re a mindset away from winning your battles! — Assegid Habtewold
The past week has been newsy. And how! For many who thought the 2019 general elections would be a walkover for Narendra Modi, the just-concluded assembly elections have given them a reason to pause and rethink. Many who thought Rahul Gandhi was a dud in electoral politics are now being forced to revise their opinion.
A week is a long time in politics is something we have known for long. But a week can be equally long for the businesses. For, who would have thought that Urjit Patel, once known as a Modi confidant, would quit in a huff, with the rumours being that the government was trying to encroach on the RBI turf?
While Patel was slammed “for being a silent spectator” to demonetisation, he was hailed in equal measure for fighting to protect the institutional autonomy of the RBI, as he departed.
While Patel’s departure was a surprise, the choice of his successor was not so much of a surprise. Shaktikanta Das, the affable officer, who held daily press conferences as economic affairs secretary during demonetisation, is someone who enjoys the confidence of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. It remains to be seen how he plays along with the government as PM Modi and FM Jaitley seek to have a greater control over the RBI in a bid to promote their political project.
We, thus, thought it was apt to discuss the RBI developments as a cover story. Since this happens to be the annual issue of Most Respected Companies, we put the RBI developments as a second cover.
For the first cover, we have come out with the much-awaited annual Most Respected Companies survey.
For the project, we tied up with an independent knowledge partner, and involved a heavyweight jury wherein we voted various corporate entities across eight parameters. So, we profile top 20 companies in our Most Respected Companies list. We also profile top companies across 21 sectors.
This issue, over the years, has been known as the gold standard — when it comes to the Most Respected Companies study in Corporate India.
We hope you enjoy the issue, and use it as a ready reference.
This issue also carries an important story on HAL. The past few weeks have been replete with references to why HAL was not included as a partner for Rafale. Even the Union Defence Minister made statements on this.
While accusations of HAL being bogged down by a PSU legacy would be true, some of its achievements cannot be overlooked. As an interview with HAL’s CMD shows it has achievements to show off, while challenges, as discussed earlier, remain.
This issue of BW Businessworld comes with all other regular features and columns.
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