Markets Predictably Struggle To Hold Highs
India is amongst the few major economies in the world without a trade deal with the US
On Episode 740 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Ajay Kedia, Director at Kedia Advisory, Akhilesh Tuteja, Partner & National Leader, Clients and Markets, KPMG in India and Venkat Mangudi, Founder and CEO at Elytra Security
SHOW NOTES
(00:00) Stories Of The Day
(00:46) Markets Predictably Struggle To Hold Highs.
(05:03) What Is Driving Silver Prices To Fresh Records ?
(11:27) Index Of Industrial Production Hits 14 Month Low In October
(12:52) How Will Small And Large Firms Navigate The New Digital Personal Data Protection
(31:22) A Cold Wave Is Coming Across Northern India.
Register for India Energy Week 2026
https://www.indiaenergyweek.com/forms/register-as-a-delegate
Register for the 3rd Edition of the Algorand India Summit
https://algorand.co/india-summit-2025
NOTE: This transcript contains the host's monologue and includes interview transcripts by a machine. Human eyes have gone through the script but there might still be errors in some of the text, so please refer to the audio in case you need to clarify any part. If you want to get in touch regarding any feedback, you can drop us a message on [email protected].
—
Good morning, it's Tuesday, the 2nd of December and this is Govindraj Ethiraj broadcasting and streaming weekdays from Mumbai, India's financial capital and our top stories and themes…
The markets struggle predictably to hold their highs.
What is driving silver prices to these fresh records?
India's index of industrial production hits a 14-month low in October.
How will small and large firms navigate the new digital personal data protection rules?
And a cold wave is going to sweep across northern India.
A Weak Note
Global markets have begun December on a weak note and India is not far behind. The local markets hit fresh highs but predictably fell after that, demonstrating once again that highs usually tend to bring out sellers and that happens for some time before the markets stabilise once again for a future rise, if so.
On Monday, the Sensex and Nifty were flat. The Sensex was down 64 points to 85,641 and the Nifty was down 27 points to 26,175. Earlier in the day, the Sensex hit a record high of 86,159 and Nifty hit 26,325.
In the broader markets, the Nifty mid cap 100 and the Nifty small cap 100 were slumped about 0.25% each. Now, the rupee hit a record low on Monday thanks among other things to what Reuters called a persistent bearish fall on the currency. The rupee is now within striking distance of 90 rupees to the dollar.
India also is amongst the few major economies in the world without a trade deal with the United States and of course December is upon us. Remember, we were hoping to or supposed to have a deal by this point. Now, this is obviously creating jitters in the international currency at least in the context of India.
On Monday, the rupee hit a low of Rs.89.75 during the session before closing at Rs.89.54 down 0.1% for the day according to Reuters. The rupee and the stock markets are of course moving in different if not almost opposite directions at this point and that tells you something about the levels of optimism and pessimism in these different markets. Elsewhere, GDP numbers may have hit a six quarter high at 8.2% for the July to September period but US tariffs are now beginning to bite.
Growth in the index of industrial production fell sharply to 0.4% in October compared to 4.6% in September. Now, this was the slowest pace of expansion in 14 months as manufacturing, mining and electricity output contracted according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Monday. A note from Crystal says a substantial decline in merchandise exports by close to 12%, some moderation in government CAPEX which was front-loaded to the first half of the fiscal and fewer working days in October as per the National Statistics Office explain the gauge's weaker growth.
It also said there was deceleration across use-based segments with consumer non-durables, primary goods and consumer durables seeing a year-on-year decline in output while intermediate goods, capital goods and infrastructure and construction goods saw softer growth. Crystal says that for the third quarter, the entire third quarter, they do expect sturdy consumption demand to somewhat offset the negative impact of weaker export demand and help the manufacturing sector. Elsewhere, the HSBC's India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index or PMI compiled by S&P Global dropped to 56.6% in November from October's 59.2% and that was below the preliminary reading of 57.4%. The latest slowdown was evident across key indicators, HSBC said, both factory output and total new orders, which is a gauge for demand, were at their weakest pace since February.
And more macro data with goods and services tax or GST collections holding steady at about 170,000 crores or about $19 billion in gross GST for November, roughly 0.7% higher than last year. Remember, the government has reduced taxes on a majority of mass consumption goods ranging from soaps to small cars. After refunds, the government's net tax collections were about 152,000 crores which is about 1.3%. After refunds, the government's net tax collections were about 152,000 crores which was about 1.3% higher than in November 2024.
Now the tax cuts kicked in on September 22nd. So November will be the first month to reflect the full impact of those tax cuts on government revenues and we will be tracking it here.
Silver And Gold
Gold prices hit their highest in six weeks on Monday, even as silver prices touched a record. Spot gold was about $4,255 per ounce, while silver was up 2.2% to hit $57.63 per ounce after hitting an all-time high of $57.86 or close to $58 on Monday. So why are silver prices shooting up like this and more so in recent days as they continue to hit record highs and does it signal a shift within precious metals? I reached out to commodity expert Ajay Khadia and founder of Khadia Advisory and I began by asking him why silver prices were rising like this.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Ajay Kedia: I think silver has doubled, I think in 2025, it's currently 98, more than 98% gain we have seen. Major regions, January has started, we have some pretty US added silver in a critical metal list. That was a green signal that silver should outperform.
And slowly and steadily we have seen dollar index was dropping. Interest rate is quite vital because after October rate cut, we were expecting there would be a pause from Feb, but now it's very much clear the rate cut would be continued. That has added the rally.
But most important is the demand side. It could be from ETF, it could be from physical side. Two days back or last week, there was a report that there is a silver shortage in China also.
That again created a squeeze what we have seen in the month of October. All that factor supported silver and we have seen silver going multi-year high.
Govindraj Ethiraj: Right, so we are over $57 now. What does this reflect? I mean, is there a way of saying that this price is peak price?
Is there any kind of history or how do you gauge where it's at?
Ajay Kedia: So going there would be two things. One is looking to the price performance. So in 1980, 2011, we have seen $50 mark has already been achieved.
So right now, if we compare to that level, yes, market is over-rallied or blah, blah, blah, things would be coming. But when you compare with gold and silver ratio, which is currently at 74, made a high of 107 in the month of May. Still, historical average is around, let's say 68 to 70.
That suggests silver is still underperformed as compared to gold, despite we have seen silver prices have doubled in last one year period. So I think industrial demand, ETF demand, shortages that has been creating because deficit has been going on. I think yes, technically slightly overbought has been there.
But we have already seen in the month of October, 18% fall and again market has gained to a new high. So this type of volatility would be there, but fundamentally really this type is very bullish for silver.
Govindraj Ethiraj: Right. And you talked about the gold and silver, the ratio. Are people also sort of switching between gold ETFs and silver ETFs or choosing silver ETFs versus gold?
And how are the funds flowing and what direction are, you know, institutional investors driving investors towards?
Ajay Kedia: So actually, we Indians love gold and silver both. Since 2022, we have added gold and silver simultaneously and we have seen a fabulous data. But slowly and steadily as social media or we can say information are very easily available, now people are turning to silver.
As gold and silver suggest that from 107 to 73, that suggests silver has more potential to have a growth. And definitely because industrial demand, ETF demand, shortages, central banks are adding silver now. So I think people initially were more bullish on gold, but now slowly and steadily looking to the information on industrial use in EVs, digital.
So I think people are now turning for silver.
Govindraj Ethiraj: Right. And you talked about central banks adding silver. So central banks were adding gold because that was seen as a hedge against risk or perceived risk, particularly after the Trump tariffs or this sort of new world of Trump tariffs and trade uncertainty.
So is silver also becoming something similar? I think central bank is adding gold because of safety.
Ajay Kedia: Yes, one measure, but there is a term called de-dollarization because of the policy, what we have seen from US side. So now every economy is slightly frightened with the case US, how they are treating with other countries. So now they are moving out of dollar.
We have seen a recent data where gold is in second position as a reserve investment. So I think gold is acting as a safe currency, we can say that is a result of de-dollarization. But last year, Russia central bank has started that, why don't we add silver also?
Initially, silver price was very low and it's a bulky commodity as compared to gold. But now silver is also getting attractions. Prices are quite good.
Russian central bank has added some Syria investment fund from Middle East has added silver in their investment. So slowly and steadily, silver is now on the radar of central bank or some long term investment funds.
Govindraj Ethiraj: Right. Last question, Ajay. So we are nearing the end of the year.
So what's your outlook for silver for that matter gold for the rest of the year? That's calendar. Frankly, I am very much bullish on silver.
Ajay Kedia: Two years back when the prices was around 72, we were predicted around 1,50,000, we have achieved. Slightly I am spectacle at this moment because volatility will be too high. I have personally never seen silver prices doubled in a one year period.
And whenever this happened, a sharp correction has been followed. We have already seen 18% fall in the month of October. And I think a correction is due in silver, maybe a corrective dip of 80, 20% from here.
But if somebody wants to buy for next couple of years, one and a half year to two years, I'm still bullish on silver. Maybe in international, we can see level like $75 on domestic side with the rupee weakness. We can easily test three lakh level mark, but it will take another one and a half year to two years, not immediately.
Govindraj Ethiraj: Right, Ajay Thank you so much for joining me.
Ajay Kedia: Thank you.
Elsewhere maybe there is or maybe there isn't a connection but bitcoin prices are crashing. Bitcoin fell sharply on Monday as a recent sell-off in cryptocurrencies resumed. It was last seen around $86,435 on Monday morning.
Now here's one link. The People's Bank of China on Saturday warned of illegal activities relating to digital currencies which put pressure on Hong Kong-listed shares of digital assets-related companies that fell on Monday, according to CNBC, which added that the fresh slide in digital assets comes along with a broader risk-off settlement at the start of a new month, that's the 1st of December.
Oil Prices Up
And here's the India Energy Week segment. Oil prices rose 1% on Monday as the Caspian Pipeline Consortium halted exports after a major drone attack and US-Venezuela tensions raised concerns about supply while the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries-Plus agreed to leave oil output levels unchanged for the first quarter of 2026, according to Reuters. Crude was quoting just under $63 a barrel, according to Bloomberg data.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium carries about 1% of global oil and it halted operations on Saturday after a mooring at its Russian terminal in the Black Sea was damaged by a Ukrainian drone. The attacks drove oil prices higher on the back of reduced export volumes, according to analysts who spoke to Reuters. Ukraine has also attacked two oil tankers which were heading to Novorossiysk.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies had initially agreed to a pause in early November, slowing a push, says Reuters, to regain market share with looming fears of a supply glut.
The New DPDP Rules
India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has notified the final Digital Personal Data Protection Rules 2025, which marks a new era in privacy-led digital governance. We've been discussing this on the core report, but obviously the businesses are now digesting these new rules and also scoping out how they will respond to them.
It's also clear that the impact and response will be different for larger and smaller firms. The latter have to think of cost of compliance maybe more acutely than some of the larger companies. To get a sense on where companies were in this journey right now, I reached out to Akhilesh Tuteja, Partner and National Leader, Clients and Marketing Technology, and Global Head, Cybersecurity at KPMG International, and Venkat Mangudi, Founder of Eletra Security, a cybersecurity and compliance firm that advises mid-sized companies, and I began by asking them how companies that they were talking to were coping with the new rules.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Akhilesh Tuteja: The good news is that the act is much simpler than what one would have imagined a long time ago when this whole onset of GDPR and everything played out. So, relatively speaking, it's much easier to implement. But having said that, I will divide the readiness or implementation in two parts.
One is changing the way processes work, and the other is changing the way people work. I think it's going to be much easier for us in India to change the process than to change people, because privacy as a culture hasn't been deep-rooted in our way of working. So even when I work with some of the large corporations, they have ways of working which are codified in the business processes, technology, etc.
But there is another way in which the information gets shared. We are all very familiar with things being flying around on channels like WhatsApp and others. So I think in my view, businesses will find it much easier to implement it on a piece of paper, but I think it will be much harder to actually bring this whole concept into reality.
Govindraj Ethiraj: And could you illustrate that with an example? So let's say if it's an automotive company or an e-commerce company, where the pain points you feel are, let's say, more starker?
Akhilesh Tuteja: Yeah. So let's take the example of a bank first. So for example, there's an EKYC and other process.
Now, that process is already GDPR compliant, because if you look at it, given that GDPR was a tighter regulation anyways, compared to this, also compliant with the DPDPA. And the reason I say that, because it's a legitimate service, you don't need a specific consent, but you need to protect the privacy of the information document which you received. So the EKYC process is rather well-protected.
But what you see in reality is it's not that you just go through the web, do your EKYC self-address, etc. You'll have somebody from the bank call you and say, sir, can you please send these documents on WhatsApp? And you send those documents on WhatsApp.
And once those documents go into the bank system, they are well-protected. But from the time you sent it to somebody on that WhatsApp and where they go, etc., one doesn't know. But ultimately, the institution in this case, bank is accountable for the end-to-end protection of the documents.
I think the way of that part of the first mile or last mile is a challenge. Similarly, let's take the case of an automotive company. Nowadays, most cars are connected cars.
In the past, you could just deal with a very small amount of information which you dealt with a car company. When you're going and buying a car, you could just give your basic information, get an invoice, maybe a little bit of information for RC, and that's it. But in today's time, an automotive company is getting so much of your information about who you are, where you go, what you stop at, how long do you spend some time, etc., etc. Now, all of that is creating a significant personal information. Now, how do we protect that? Now, of course, a big car company will find it easy, relatively easy to protect it.
But when you take your car to a roadside mechanic and have access, or even I would say sometimes the fun element I will tell you is that if I sit in Uber and I by accident connect my phone to their charger, which is connected to the console, I actually run the risk of putting all my data onto that car. And then from that onto that car to that company, which now is also obligated to protect my information, even though I'm not the buyer of that car. So there are implications around how do we look at the ecosystem way of managing the data.
Govindraj Ethiraj: Venkat, one of the things you pointed out recently as well, literally in the last few days, is the one-year forensic log. And that, to me, seems to illustrate the larger challenges particularly companies or smaller companies could face in complying with these new regulations.
Venkat Mangudi: Let me start by agreeing with Mr. Kuteja that this is much more simpler than GDPR. But the way I look at it, DPDPA is fundamentally about economic trust. It's about trust at an economic level.
The biggest challenge I have seen when I interact with my clients is they don't know where the data lies. They don't know where personal data is stored. Most organisations, around 80%, I would say, across MSMEs and large enterprises have no clue where personal data is.
Even if they do, it is not easily determinable. So the way I look at it, there are three important aspects that are terribly important to comply with DPDPA. One is data identification, mapping where the data sits.
The second one, and this is most important for most organisations in India, is data minimisation. As in, collect only what you must. Today, if you look at India, pretty much across the globe, they just collect all data they can, potentially about everybody they come into contact with, because they can.
If you run the risk of not having your bank account open if you don't give them all the data, right? Now, that has to change. That mindset has to clearly change.
And then they add all these policies, then they bundle it into these really large documents where you sign two places and you actually consent to 20 different things. That is out. That is going to go away.
And the third important thing is going to be deletion workloads. Today, companies, we are hoarders in India, both personally and business-wise. We keep data forever without really wondering why we need it or whether it is needed.
And that is going to change with DPDPA because every organisation must clearly publish a retention and deletion schedule. How long do they keep it? There are organisational and regulatory needs for some data, but other than that, you are not supposed to keep data with you.
Now, talking specifically about these logs, this I have seen with most MSMEs. Certain already has a law mandate from the IT Act of 2000 that companies must hold minimum six months of logs across all ICT systems for forensic evidence. Sad to say, most people just completely ignore that law.
Here's what one person told me when I met him recently. So, there is no enforcement in India. It's a chalta hai attitude that serves us well, but in this case, it is not good.
DPDPAs, you need to have logs for one year. I mean, they are up to the limit from six months. Again, primarily because the impact of this breach can be significantly larger from a privacy perspective, which is why every organisation now by law must keep their logs for a year, which is significantly higher than most other regulations globally.
Govindraj Ethiraj: Akhilesh, you know, I can sense that many people will do the trade-off. I mean, you know, this is a whole bunch of new compliance. Do I have the ability to compliance or at least can I stagger it out versus the cost or even the probability of actually getting caught out on not having complied?
Akhilesh Tuteja: I'm looking at where things are right now. I would say it's not a great business decision to take that trade-off because the reason is that the cost of compliance in my view is significantly lower than the potential issue you may cause. Another thing which I do want to unravel is that actually, if you are a small business, it's not a huge amount of extra work which you need to do.
Yes, there is some data you need to keep. There's some protection which you talked about preservation of logs, etc. But actually, it's less about putting in cost to change the system.
It's more about changing the culture of how you keep the information safe. So I'm not seeing at least any of my clients saying that, okay, let's weigh the risks versus the cost it is. Actually, the cost in my view are not significant.
Govindraj Ethiraj: Right. And I can understand, I mean, no large company will do that, but the term culture is important. And obviously, if we don't have that culture, we have to build it.
And as we build it, then we will obviously figure out how to approach it. Venkat, what's your sense of cultural readiness? And obviously, we're talking about people who are conceptually, let's say, law abiding, and law in the broadest sense of the term.
Venkat Mangudi: Exactly. See, the point is, this is where I have concerns about, as Mr. Pratikinja said, culture and the mindset that people have, right? Almost everyone, every business owner that I speak with at the micro, small and medium industries, they are law-abiding citizens.
They don't fudge their accounting. They pay their taxes. They are very law-abiding in that term.
And the point is, as India is a law-abiding country, we are also a very fine country. As in, if there are no fines, if there is no enforcement, we will blissfully and gleefully ignore the law. They would not drive on the road without a licence because they know if they get caught, the cops are going to give a fine.
But the same business owner will ignore the fact that they need to have some sort of security measures or data privacy measures. Certain says you should have certain safeguards in your organisation, and logs, and you have to register some people. You should train your employees.
And this is across all organisations, whether it is a proprietorship or a public limited company. I ran a small poll on LinkedIn, and over 70% of the people said they didn't even know this existed. And those who knew they existed, they said, I'm not sure anybody's going to come and ask.
So unless this is going to be enforced, unlike certain, it's a matter of discipline. Culture, yes, people should learn that their data is private too, right? At the end of the day, if their company is going to ignore the privacy law, their data sits with some other company like Amazon or Flipkart.
They have to project themselves as the data principle, as the person owns the data, and not think at it from a data fiduciary or the company's perspective. That mindset comes through, right? When it applies to you, things change.
Govindraj Ethiraj: Akhilesh, you talked about large companies, you talked about a bank, you talked about an automotive company, but most companies also work or exist in an ecosystem of partners, vendors, suppliers, and so on. And I can sense that, while the big companies might be ready and be aware, because they may be also global companies, the ecosystem may not be ready, not because they don't want to be ready, but these things take time. How are you seeing this whole process of transition as we stand right now?
Akhilesh Tuteja: Actually, if you ask me, that is one of the significant holes in the entire readiness for our country. Because there are many companies who definitely want to do it right, they will understand how to do it right, but they don't exist standalone. They operate in an ecosystem, and interestingly, most of the people outside of the company control are typically smaller.
Not all the time, but if I were to say any company, they will work with about 20-30% of the larger corporation, about 60-70% of the smaller organisation. And those smaller organisations have, again, lower level of understanding to start with, and also sometimes implementation. So the big challenge the big companies are facing is not what they can do on their own, but what they need to do to their ecosystem partners, players who they work with.
And that challenge is multifold. The first one is that they don't have direct control. The second one is that they hired those companies to do certain jobs in an outsourced mode so that those jobs get done better, faster, and also sometimes cheaper.
And when you're expecting the same service to be cheaper because you're outsourced, you can't expect the same level of controls which come in. And the third one is that those small players then further hire a large number of feet on street kind of workforce, which again, are not conscious of dealing with the personal information the way the expectation of all of us as consumers is. So therefore, in my view, all my clients I'm talking to, they ask me saying, what is on critical path tomorrow morning?
And I say, it's not the notice, it's not the consent, it's not about getting your system right, it's about getting your ecosystem right. Because you will take several months just to educate them what it is, why is it important, even before they start to put the first process in. So to me, in the entire country's readiness, it's not the large corporations, it's the smaller corporations which work for the larger corporations.
Govindraj Ethiraj: Venkat, so I know that you're also running interactions with some of your clients on existing and potential, where you're talking about this. And what are you telling them right now in terms of what they should be doing, apart from the fact that you're raising awareness of it, what are the kind of first steps? And the supplemental question to that is, how do individuals also look at this?
I mean, a lot of people who are listening to this, or will be watching this are individuals like you and me, who are also data generators, so to speak.
Venkat Mangudi: Right, as Mr. Tuteja pointed out, MSMEs are now vendors, the larger company, the fiduciary is responsible for the policies being implemented among their suppliers, so to speak, right? So what MSMEs needs are really low friction practical way to get this. And awareness, building that awareness is a big challenge, which is what I'm working on.
I'm hosting webinars, I created this capability model called Privas. And these are all open CC by SAs, anybody can use it, right? So basically, I'm trying to build awareness, guide them on what this is, essentially telling them that, look, this is not rocket science, it's very simple.
We just have to streamline, it's not about policies, it's about processes. And how you're managing your current process, you might have to slightly tweak it, make sure you understand where your data is, understand what is your backup plan, what is your disaster recovery plan, you know, make sure that you are secure so that your breach impacts not just you, but your customer at the end of the day. So those are the things that MSMEs need, they need to understand that they are very crucial in this big wheel.
They may be a tiny cog in the wheel, but it is very crucial that they also follow. And I think that is what DPDPA is aiming to do. If you have to look at what our Prime Minister has spoken about, Vixit Bharat and Digital India and stuff, it means that we are all digital first, as we understand that.
We as small and medium enterprises are the backbone of the country. We have the largest number of MSMEs in the world. They are constantly being touted as the backbone of India.
It should start there at the grassroots level. And to answer your follow-up, India, by releasing DPDPA, has just changed, pivoted completely where the power, right? So individuals now have a bunch of rights.
You have the right to know who holds what, you have the right to know why they are holding it, you have the right to ask them to delete it. This never existed before. We were at the mercy of anybody and everybody who take our phone number, name, email address, and then just sell it.
I mean, it did not stop with just shops, right? Schools. I mean, if you have children, you know that your schools sell your data to their partners who then call you and try to sell you Fiji and Akash for your children or colleges.
Hospitals sell your data. Insurance companies sell your data. Vehicle manufacturers and dealers sell your data because then you have a whole bunch of people who come after you and say, buy insurance from me.
That entire ecosystem is going to go bust because now individuals have the right and I can demand that their data be deleted, not be shared. I want to know what you have. So individuals' data principles have now got significant power in India, contrary to what it was pre-DPDP.
Govindraj Ethiraj: Right. And let's hope it pans out like that. Akhilesh, last question.
So again, coming back to larger enterprises, who's going to own this and will it get owned the way it is supposed to be owned so that everything that we've spoken about so far actually goes into practise?
Akhilesh Tuteja: I'm optimistic at heart and therefore my answers may be far from reality. It's a big challenge. In the organisation, there's no one owner who can take the responsibility for this whole thing.
But I'll tell you who shouldn't own this. So first of all, I would say that the general counsel and legal officers, in my view, shouldn't own it. I hope I'm helping you and by saying that because it's not just a regulatory requirement, it's the way to do business.
At the same breath, I would say that the chief security officer and chief data officer and chief information officer also must not own it alone. Could it be the chief risk officer for an evolved organisation? Maybe yes.
In my view, the chief operating officer could be potentially a better place to put it out because here it's not about complying for the sake of complying. It's not a regulation which you can, in a standalone basis, fill in some forms and get away. It's about fundamentally changing your business to make it more trustworthy for your customers.
And I do want to highlight it here saying it's not that the government wants you to comply for the benefit of the government. Here, I think it's important for each one of us. I think each one of us feel extremely annoyed when we get those calls which we don't want to get.
Each one of us feel somewhat compromised when we see our data being used for targeting, etc. I do hope we go into that direction rather than just saying, okay, we comply with all the things. I'm now signed.
If you don't sign, you will not receive the service. Those kinds of things don't happen. So in my view, somebody who really looks at the way of doing business, in my view, chief operating officer or people who run business units should own it, of course, with a huge support which is required from people who implement it, which is right from first understanding the legal officer, then demystifying this into the operational matters about technology data and security officers.
And thereafter, the human resources people, because they need to also implement it for their own employees. And then the chief supply chain officers, because they need to implement it for the ecosystem partners. So hopefully, it goes in that direction.
The optimistic me feels that it'll go that way.
Govindraj Ethiraj: Right. And it's a lot of work for everyone. And most people, I think, as even Venkat pointed out, are still figuring out how this act and its regulations are playing out and will affect all our lives, but obviously, for the better.
Thank you both for joining me today.
Akhilesh Tuteja: Thank you so much.
Venkat Mangudi: Thank you.
A Cold Wave
Large parts of north and central India could see harsher-than-usual winter ahead. The Indian Meteorological Department on Monday warned of normal to below-normal minimum temperatures between December 2025 and February 2026. The Weather Office also said that early morning fog could disrupt transport, while stagnant conditions may worsen air quality in some urban pockets.
It also flagged the potential impact of extended cold spells, saying that this could increase health risk for vulnerable groups, including senior citizens, children, and individuals with underlying medical conditions. Meanwhile, IMD also said that some parts of the country could simultaneously experience above-normal maximum temperatures, including areas in northwest and northeast India and the Himalayan foothills.
