What we need before Skill India is perhaps a Skill Government mission. And what’s more, in this Budget season, a visionary leader can do this without much fund allocation.

Trumpnomics will probably kick-start the decline of the US as we know it. Getting back our best brains, trained in the best institutes, will be the biggest capital we can have to climb to the pinnacle.

This week's "Poke Me" invited your comments on "H-1B issue in US provides the right push – and opportunity – for India".

In trying to answer this question, the first thing that needs to be done is to define what the BCCI does. What are its primary tasks and objectives?

For those of us who’ve lived in Dehradun for decades, the Supreme Court order banning sale of liquor on highways, is the cruellest joke you could play on a small town.

This week's "Poke Me" invited your comments on "Young and the restless". Here are the selected opinions.

Drying trends have been reported in Krishna and Kaveri and the pollution problem in the Ganga is well recognised. The future of our rivers appears bleak.

A report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development has forecast that the global economy may see an impact of $1-2 trillion in 2020. How far will the virus impact the Indian economy. Here's a brief overview.

Structural and cost disadvantages have held India back. Absence of local supply chains, high manufacturing and logistics costs, combined with financial and fiscal incentives provided by the likes of Vietnam, puts India at an extra 8-10% disability. To change this, a bespoke production-linked incentive for mobile manufacturing is needed.

The chamber said that in keeping up with most economies of the world to institute stimulus measures with 10 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Indian economy would need a transfusion of over $200 billion with an ability to go up to $300 billion, over the next 12-18 months.

It’s the lack of clarity that makes one wonder if the note was a knee-jerk reaction, or a well-thought-out strategy.

​​​The intention is to bring all B2B, B2C, consumer-facing, consumer-based content platforms, apps-based commerce and IoT device-based services under the policy, potentially engulfing products like the Amazon Echo, which is powered by artificial intelligence-driven virtual assistant Alexa, and MG Hector, the Internet-enabled vehicle from Morris Garages in the regulatory realm of e-commerce.

MSMEs need easy credit facilities to fulfil the financial requirements of their business. The DCE's Credit Guarantee Scheme provides easy, collateral free credit facilities to MSMEs.

A googly that founders often face from investors is the market they address is too crowded. Now competition is a given, very much like death or taxes, and it’s often better to have competition that validates that the market exists than otherwise.

Organizations are struggling to implement an immediate crisis response mechanism while exploring long term sustainability solutions to build resilience against future black swan events.

There will be up to 70% on from small businesses that includes up to 50% off artisan handloom and handicrafts. Up to 75% on 'interesting finds' from startups, 40% off on women-made products, up to 80% off on fashion, accessories and home products.

If you are using a Windows computer with a standard hard drive, sooner or later the computer will become sluggish. One way out is to tweak Windows to perform better with your existing hardware.

Now all domestic airlines, including government-owned Air India, have announced a waiver on re-booking charges in case a customer does not want to travel on the designated date. Wadia group-owned private carrier GoAir, which was earlier offering free cancellation, has said it will now allow people to only reschedule their flights for no charge.

If you are someone who has been asked to work remotely and are looking for a laptop at a reasonable price, here are six of the best ones under Rs 40,000.

Your computer, smartphones might be holding videos, photos and audio in various folders, and you would not even know that it's there. Hence, ET Wealth tells you the following methods on how to clean up your devices for more efficiency.

When the Covid-19 pandemic caused a sudden shortage of hand sanitisers, alcoholic beverage major Pernod Ricard was among the companies in the US that stepped up to ensure there was no dearth of the product in the market. Leading the initiative was Ann Mukherjee, who took over as chairman & CEO of Pernod Ricard North America in December 2019. Mukherjee has spent almost 30 years in sales, marketing and brands, including with Frito-Lay North America and SC Johnson. The Kolkata-born Mukherjee was last month chosen by US President Donald Trump to be part of a high-profile group to advise the American government on how to kick-start US manufacturing in the post-pandemic era. Trump has formed several such groups to focus on various sectors of the economy. In an interview with Ishani Duttagupta, Mukherjee says that re-entering life and enabling safe travel will be the biggest challenges that all nations face in a post-lockdown world. Edited excerpts...You took over the reins at Pernod Ricard North America only last December; how are you dealing with the crisis caused by the pandemic?My first priority was the health and safety of our employees. That meant creating an infrastructure and agile ways of working to enable working from home through confinement. It also meant creating and maintaining safety protocols for our essential frontline workers, especially our teams in production facilities and distilleries. Second, we focused on our ability to give back to the communities we serve and partner with. Given our entrepreneurial culture, many teams went into action creating opportunities with speed. Working closely with the White House COVID taskforce, we were able to get clearance to produce and supply hand sanitiser for the US government. We provided this free of cost to help first responders across the country. Our Jameson team --- realizing that many bartenders that partner to make the brand great would be out of work – donated $600,000, and generated another $700,000 in matching funds, to the US Bartenders Guild charity fund. Also, our on-premise team worked with multiple charities to provide free meals for hospitality workers affected by the crisis.Finally, we dealt with the crisis by closely collaborating with our distributor partners to keep our business open in the short term, while working together to create a roadmap for recovery. We leveraged our resilience and our culture of conviviality to keep spirits high -- and work with optimism -- during difficult times.As the head of the American operations of an European giant, what are the challenges? Are there any cultural issues?Honestly, cultural issues never even enter the conversation. The culture is centred around conviviality…..bringing people together. That is true for what we sell and how we interact together as business units. Our CEO Alex Ricard sets the tone and walks the walk. He is a very expansive thinker and an inclusive leader who unites us and our different experiences to make for a more powerful whole. Take me for example. He hired an Indian American with very strong roots in India, with North American commercial experience and global marketing experience. He looks for people with broad perspectives and experiences. 75649631Is the American market for scotch whisky growing?Scotch is the best-selling imported whiskey in the US by revenue. Blended scotch has been somewhat flat, with some growth during the crisis, and we see that with our iconic Chivas brand. Single malt is where we see the growth; sales increased almost 10% last year. Our Glenlivet brand has been a huge driver of that growth, bringing new drinkers into both the brand and the category. The brand is positioned to challenge the more traditional conventions of scotch drinkers and celebrates the young unconventional drinker, especially appealing to women who are now open to enjoying single malt as their drink of choice.You are part of the team of top CEOs advising President Trump on reviving the US economy. What are some of the key issues that you think the US government needs to address at this point? It’s an honour to serve the country in this capacity. Our number 1 objective is to help the administration bring back and rebuild confidence. It is a very difficult balance between managing public health and insuring a sustainable economy. We must protect the population from this virus but we need to ensure there is an economy to come back to post the recovery. If we open too quickly, we might be back in confinement; if we don’t re-open with smart speed, we might create a bigger crisis. So we need to ensure that there are the right protocols in place for recovery, ensure there is adequate supply and access to protective accessories needed, and the right partnerships in place with private enterprise, local government and federal oversight. What should the Indian government do?As the world’s largest democracy, India has a very strong state-driven government system with strong central government oversight, not unlike the US. It is critical to get that balance right and work together to strengthen and unite the mosaic that is India. India defines entrepreneurship. It is vital to tap into that cultural advantage and unite business leaders, scholars and government to create out of the box solutions. Private enterprise will need to understand that we as CEOs have not only a fiscal responsibility to our companies, but also a societal responsibility. One feeds the other; without a vibrant market, our businesses cannot thrive, so working together as a collective across business and government is key.The alcobeverages sector traditionally didn’t have women in top roles. Do you see that changing? What are the challenges?I absolutely see it changing, though I wish progress was faster. Companies need to reflect their consumer base, and a majority of everyday purchase decisions globally are made by women. That fact is only accelerating as women become more educated, empowered as single parents or heads of households across many countries. In beverage alcohol in the US, a majority of decisions are actually made by women. The challenge is that we need corporate boards and top management teams to get more rigorous about achieving this objective. Companies must put shorter term and longer term 5-10 year succession plans in place to achieve ambitious targets for women in top management roles; they need to be identified early, developed, and given aggressive career plans to groom them for these positions. This is a passion point for Pernod Ricard driven by our Chairman, Alex Ricard. It’s about achieving better balance…and I personally like this approach. It isn’t about favouring one gender over the other, it’s about getting the right balance reflective of the marketplace and in creating tomorrow’s workforce now. Going forward, what do you think are the biggest challenges that your company and sector will have to grapple with as lockdown gradually lifts across the US and the world?Re-entering life safely is the biggest challenge the world faces. Whether it’s re-entering your neighbourhood, your town, travelling within your own country, or beginning to travel the world again. It also will be parents letting go of their children after they kept them from harm in confinement, and trusting school systems to keep them safe. And family members trusting each other to maintain safety protocols as they come back home from work. We all will lose control when we come out of confinement. In our industry, our biggest challenge will be restaurants, hotels, bars and pubs. How can you enjoy and connect, but safely from a distance? Can smaller establishments have viable businesses when there need to be fewer patrons? It will be a new normal, and we need to work together to make it viable and enjoyable.What do you think are the major differences between the liquor market in the US and Europe?I believe the liquor market is very similar in the two continents. During this crisis, we have seen the market stay strong through in-home consumption, with some of the bar and restaurant consumption shifting to home consumption. People are drinking brands they know and trust. They are also looking for premium experiences to help overcome the difficulty of confinement. For us at Pernod Ricard, we have the world’s largest premium portfolio with a large stable of familiar and trusted brands. So we have seen positive performance from our portfolio in both continents. What has your experience been as a woman in a typically male-dominated industry?Joining Pernod Ricard was a great fit for me. My husband and I love entertaining, bringing friends and family together because we believe creating special moments together makes life worth living. That is exactly the spirit and culture of conviviality. So when I joined the company, I invited my leadership team to my home for a night to meet the Mukherjees as part of a bigger leadership summit. My husband, who is very proud of his bar, rebuilt all the shelves so he could light up and showcase all of the incredible Pernod Ricard brands. I show my compassion through food. So I made samosas, mutton biriyani, raita, chicken cutlet and chapali kababs, and for my vegetarian team members, I made dal makhani, matter paneer, aloo dum. As a parting gift I gave everyone a small Ganesh so our paths moving forward would have no obstacles. I believe that if you are to be a meaningful leader, you must bring your whole and authentic self to work. As a woman, I don’t shy away from sharing my personal stories as a wife, mother and daughter, or from sharing my vulnerabilities as a woman leader in how I manage, try to instil trust and inspire others. After all, we are in the human being business. Do you see a timeline for recovery of firms such as yours in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis?The only thing that is certain about this crisis is that it is uncertain. Until we have viable testing and treatment and eventually vaccines, we cannot fully recover. So the key right now is to be agile. Adjust as the marketplace adjusts. That means new ways of working, helping your workforce to be in a mode of agile planning and execution. We can help people through the stops and starts this will cause by helping them see the bigger long-term goal of recovery and viability.Do you have any connections with India?I have very strong connections with India. 98% of my family is still in India, in my native hometown of Kolkata, New Delhi where I went to high school, as well as Mumbai and Bengaluru. We talk to them daily/weekly to keep in touch and stay connected through this crisis. We speak Bengali at home as a family. I am very proud of my sari collection and dress Indian any chance I get. We have a very strong Indian community here. I am as Indian as I am American and am a better person for it. I hope and pray that everyone stays safe and recovers with prosperity.

If you have a credit card from Kotak Mahindra Bank, here are some of the details of its three-month moratorium facility.

As the country is staying at home to fight against the coronavirus, investors are adapting themselves to the online way of working with their finances.

It must be recalled that the finance ministry had revised rules and introduced separate forms for each small savings scheme via a notification in December 2019.

PM Narendra Modi began his maiden speech at UNGA by reminding the august audience of India’s hoary civilisational past.

His goals include building an emergency corpus, saving for his children’s (including another child in future) education and weddings, and retirement.

Do not deny the possibility of losing the job, or being furloughed briefly.

The looming uncertainty caused by coronavirus without a doubt requires cutting down on expenses. You need to start exercising monetary prudence and caution. However, don’t try to cut corners in these five expenses even at such a time.

Stores of value are worthwhile only if they can step up and be useful when we need them. Not if they also lose value, freeze up, or get locked when you must access them. In other words, you should be able to liquidate your assets without difficulty should the need arise.

Liquidating assets to pay off debts is recommended only if you find it difficult to pay EMIs.

No investment portfolio would have escaped the impact of coronavirus and the consequent financial troubles. Analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in your financial plan in the following quiz and find out where you stand and what you need to do.

Most of us are a lot like those monkeys. On the upside, we learn from one another, we don’t let down our mates, and we get along.

BR Shetty landed in Abu Dhabi with $8 in 1973 and turned his sweat into a personal fortune worth billions.

You should explore the `pause your SIP’ option offered by mutual funds before finalising to stop your mutual fund investments through SIPs.

While investing a debt mutual fund, one should make sure the category suits your time frame.

Credit risk funds have always been vulnerable to its investments of up to 65% (and more) in the lower-rated instruments. To earn higher returns than the rest of the debt categories, the fund manager buys high-yielding, low credit quality bonds.

The Kohli and Kumble partnership has played a crucial role in team’s recent success. But to become India’s best captain-coach combo ever, they need to pass tougher tests.

Take a marathon for instance; while one runner may have a calculative approach, another might count on his unmatched stamina to run for miles together without stopping - but both could be champions in the same sport, just that their approach is different.

Whatever level of an investor you fall under, knowing what 'not' to do, could help you figure your route to investing in equities.

Gymnastics is a great combination of strength, balance, flexibility and grace.

If you're wondering what could be common between a game of relay and a cyclical mutual fund, there are quite a few to state.

Equities are true blue wealth creators in the long term - this is probably the most preached mantra, but seldom practiced!

Nine Indian fishermen who were allegedly harassed and not paid by their employer in Yemen for nearly a year have escaped that country by stealing their employer's boat and sailing for Kochi, a peril-filled voyage of than 3,000 km of open sea, according to the families of two of the fishermen.

President Donald Trump's executive order to temporarily halt issuance of green cards aims to "turn off the faucet" of new immigrant labour and is the beginning of a broader strategy to reduce the flow of foreigners into the US.

Trump’s move, a clear attempt to bolster his base ahead of the US election, shakes the very foundation of the image of America in the minds of many. This is a country where the immigrant story has had its fullest most Technicolor rendition, where politicians routinely boast about their immigrant roots.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) argued that the American technology workers, who had challenged the 2015 ruling on giving work permits to H-4 visa-holders, have not been irreparably harmed by such work authorisation.

Millions of Indian workers are staring at an uncertain future as Covid shuttered businesses and crashed oil.

At a time of uncertainty, people are seeking comfort in friends and the familiar - which also includes a collection of board games, we used to play as children. Here're some of the most popular online board games in India that have been offering refuge to people seeking entertainment during these testing times.

Your career is undeniably the biggest investment of your working life. Where the gender pay gap exists, it means that for the same work, you are getting a lower salary due to your gender. Progressive workplaces understand and take steps to fill this gap.

The ongoing all-India lockdown could be lifted after 21 days or get extended. If the latter happens, the economy will get worse and firms may have to shut shop. Here's how you can achieve career growth even in a lockdown, as you preprare for things to swing either way.