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Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Name theory
Times of India's Edit Page team comprises senior journalists with wide-ranging interests who debate and opine on the news and issues of the day. Ferrero buying Kellogg isn't just a business story Last year, Indians abroad sent home $129bn, a record. And on Thursday, Italian candymaker Ferrero announced it would buy US cereal giant WK Kellogg for $3.1bn, which is not a record – not even close – for the acquisition of a brand. Brit firm Vodafone's $190bn acquisition of German firm Mannesmann in 2000 remains on the podium after 25 long years. And America Online's ill-advised $182bn acquisition of Time Warner the same year remains equally gasp-worthy. Both outstrip Indian remittances by an enormous margin, without factoring in inflation, or involving 35mn-plus emigrants. That is the power of brands, and a country that creates conditions for them to thrive is well on its way to becoming a winner. In the Cold War, US and USSR were evenly matched nukes-wise, but US had a phalanx of brands, from Coke to Boeing, while the Soviets said nyet to their own Lada. Let's be clear – brands aren't things. There were scooters, and there was Vespa; razors, and Gillette; denims, and Levi's. Brands have an X factor that makes them desirable beyond borders. Jaguar and Land Rover were British cars, but so desirable that American Ford bought them. And when Ford fell on hard times, India's Tata Group took over. So, a brand's value transcends not only the physical product but also the balance sheet. India has brands, of course, but they are national-level players, inter-district champions. We need some Olympians. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
My Take 5 (Edition 48): China's stand on Ukraine war; Beijing's help to Pakistan- The week that was in international affairs
I am a Delhi-based journalist working for the Edit Page of The Times of India. Welcome back to another edition of My Take 5, your weekly round-up of top international news. For this edition we again focus on the war in Ukraine, China's stand on that conflict as revealed by its foreign minister Wang Yi, Beijing's help to Pakistan during India's Operation Sindoor, Chinese agents' shocking plan to attack Taiwan's Vice-President in Prague last year, and Russia's recognition of the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Read full story Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
LatAm pivot
Times of India's Edit Page team comprises senior journalists with wide-ranging interests who debate and opine on the news and issues of the day. India must shed its protectionist mindset and trade more with resource-rich South America That Modi's ongoing five-nation tour includes Argentina and Brazil isn't a trivia. These two key South American nations can be important fulcrums of a potential Indian pivot to the continent. While India-South America trade has been steadily growing, it's far below potential. This has much to do with our unambitious approach to the region. True, India has a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with MERCOSUR bloc that includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. The idea was that the PTA would be gradually expanded and upgraded to a free trade agreement (FTA). However, progress has been really slow and India's exports to Latin America in FY2025 stood at just $15.17bn – less than 2% of the region's total imports. But trade is back on the agenda during Modi's visits, and rightly so. While one still hopes that an India-US trade deal can be clinched, New Delhi must be prepared for all eventualities. And with Trump keen on using tariffs as a strategic weapon to achieve geopolitical goals – take the Lindsey Graham-proposed bill to hit countries buying Russian oil with 500% tariff – India must diversify its trade relations. South America is a natural resources powerhouse. With vast deposits of oil, gas, copper, lithium, rare earths etc it can power India's industrial growth, advance critical sectors like EV batteries, and bolster food security. The key for GOI would be to expand its diplomatic bandwidth and take a courageous approach to trade. We must cast away the protectionist mindset and be ready to compete. That's the only way beneficial FTAs can be worked out. Vietnam, which recently worked out a trade deal with US, has been following precisely this strategy, having inked 20 FTAs, with 16 already implemented. China already has a huge presence in Latin America. So, the latter is looking for balance. This is the perfect time for India to step up. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
Time of India
20-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Dose of hope
Times of India's Edit Page team comprises senior journalists with wide-ranging interests who debate and opine on the news and issues of the day. To really help, new HIV vax has to be made cheap A pill to treat multidrug-resistant HIV, lenacapavir, has been approved by US drug regulator FDA as a preventive vaccine. This is a huge deal – incidence of HIV may have declined since 1990s but even today about 13L people globally are infected by the virus every year. But its price is an obstacle. Sold for $28,218 per year in US, it's prohibitive even for high-income nations. Pharma company Gilead that manufactures lenacapavir has reportedly tied up with over 100 middle- and low-income countries for manufacture of generics pending approvals. But access likely will still be tricky for poorer African countries that bear the HIV burden. Drugs to prevent HIV transmission have been around almost a decade, but a daily dosage regimen makes these unreliable. People forget and there's the stigma/doubt in partners that a daily dose is preventive. Lenacapavir needs to be taken just twice a year. Its long-lasting effect in preventing infection – almost 100% in adults and adolescents – is thus the best bet today. Also because HIV research in US bears the additional burden of Trump administration's slashed funds. An effective vaccine for HIV has been elusive for decades because of its rapid mutations. Several mRNA vaccines, like those developed for Covid and considered the most promising, are in clinical trials. But since Jan, under Trump's health secretary Bob Kennedy Jr, NIH stopped funding hundreds of such HIV vaccine-related research. This is what makes repurposed lenacapavir a lifeline, provided it's made affordable. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
Time of India
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
President strangelove
Times of India's Edit Page team comprises senior journalists with wide-ranging interests who debate and opine on the news and issues of the day. Even by realpolitik standards, US loving terror sponsor Pak is a new low. India should assume worse will come Trump saying 'I love Pakistan' must be understood both in the historical and current context of US policy. That America's president is proclaiming love for a country widely known for funding, training, and protecting terrorists links back to decades of Washington policy. America has long perfected a kind of doublespeak when it comes to Pakistan-sponsored terror. Americans chose to unsee even the fact that Islamabad gave sanctuary to 9/11's architect bin Laden. Or that 26/11, which claimed American victims, was an ISI op. Now, with Israel's war on Iran, and some American strategists advocating Israeli-US bombing runs, Washington's 'realpolitik' argument would run like this: Pakistan is the only Islamic nation with nuclear weapons, it has so far backed Tehran with which it shares a 909-km border, and Beijing has a key presence in all matters Pakistan, therefore, keeping Islamabad happy makes sense. That Trump met and dined with jihadi-in-uniform Munir reinforces the point that US sees Pakistan as a tool of war. Sure, nation-states are expected to operate in national interest. Despite West's pressure, New Delhi stayed the course on buying oil from Moscow, the aggressor in the other war. But Russia, however unlovely Putin's regime is, isn't a terror sponsor. Only a few countries use terrorism as a strategic tool – Pakistan is one of them, and its target, as even Trump should know, is India. Therefore, 'loving Pakistan' and supping with its field marshal, who's a radical religious fundamentalist, isn't the same as India buying Russian oil. More so since, reportedly, Trump is offering Munir 'weaponry' in return for airspace access into Iran. Modi did well to tell Trump India won't brook any mediation. But New Delhi will have to assume things can get worse. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
