ECONOMICA

The year is 1634, a strange new flower has been rising in popularity in the infant Dutch Republic, the tulip, unlike any other flower, possessing a rich exceptional colour. Introduced into Europe in the year 1551 A.D by Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor through his ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, like most other exotic products from Asia it rose in popularity. Especially now in the independent Netherlands free from the Spanish at long last; Their golden age has begun. Making a fortune from the East Indies trade where a single voyage could net profits up to even 400%, a new merchant class has arisen, and tulips have increasingly been seen as a status symbol. Botanists have discovered that tulips will even grow in the harsher climate of the Netherlands and tulip breeding has taken off with new varieties being created, so here we find ourselves on the eve of perhaps one of the first ever financial bubbles recorded in history. The reason why tulip breeding took off was due to a pecul...

There has been a lot of tattle these days, about the Reserve Bank Governor, Mr. Urjit Patel resigning from his post. Rumours among people led to speculation of a national economic crisis. However, thankfully, quietening these rumours, Mr. Urjit Patel clarified that his resignation implied no such issues. His resignation was completely and wholly a personal thing. Citing some personal reasons, Urjit Patel resigned from the post of the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, as also permitted by the Government. Although his resignation comes against the backdrop of increasing tensions between the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India. Besides, Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley cleared the air out with a tweet acknowledging the Governor's contribution.  Mr. Urjit Patel, 55, who took over as the 24th Governor of the central bank in 2016, has had the shortest tenure since 1992. He was hand-picked by the BJP led government and was confidentially invo...

It is that time of the year when there is generally one thing on the minds of young people: getting sponsorship for their college festivals. It's a challenging task but our Marketing team is more than up for the challenge. There's an air of importance around the Marketing department; they mean business. They are on their phones, walking briskly and there's a no-nonsense aura. The Mentor of the department, Safa, perks up when we talk about the interview, "it's basically our job to talk about the fest and we like it, so an interview is great!" We start with the basic question. They are asked to tell, in their own words, what their department means to Arthotsav. "We are the backbone of the festival, I think" Tanmay, one of the Department Heads says. There's no smugness here, it's a known fact that the Marketing department gets the monetary fuel to run the festival. Okay, maybe they are a little smug about it but hey, it's a well-de...

K-POP VERSUS BOLLYWOOD                                          The Music Industry, as we know it, is nothing short of amazing talent and deep pockets that run it. One of the major music industries in Asia, is in India, Bollywood, churning out around 1800-2000 movies a year with at least 1 song in them, and then there is the K-Pop. K-Pop is an abbreviation for Korean Pop or Korean popular music. It is a music genre consisting of electronic, hip-hop, pop-rock and R&B music originating in South Korea with more than 150 artists and bands. Psy's Gangnam style which swept the world in 2012, introduced many Indians to the world of K-Pop. In South Korea, also in 2015, through another variety show 'Exciting India', members of 5 biggest boy bands -Super Junior, Shinee, EXO, Infinite and CNBlue- had visited India. Recently, 2 K-Pop groups performed and debuted in In...

In the September of 2018, the Indian Rupee took a hit against the American Dollar   causing it to reach a new low of Rs. 74   for 1 USD (approx.) When the USA waged a war of exports against China, many importing countries faced the casualties, causing a depreciation in their respective currencies, the Russian Ruble, the Japanese Yen, the Turkish Lira, the Indonesian Rupiah, the Philippine Peso, to name some, who took the biggest tanks, along with India of course. Add to that the price per barrel of oil, having increased rapidly in 2018 also hit its four-year high of 86 USD in October. India being a major consumer of crude oil,   importing up to 80% of its oil, couldn't possibly recover from its recent hard-hitting fall with another looming obstacle in the way. With many other undercurrents at work such as a high trade deficit, increase in the global demand for the dollar, disinvestment of Foreign Investors, a storm was being brewed, a storm ...