Behind Noel Tata's first decision as Tata chairman

Top of the Morning

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Monday, October 21, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started.

Noel Tata's first move at the helm of Tata Sons has been a small but significant one. The philanthropic arm of the Tata group has moved away from having fixed terms, and instead now has permanent members. Varun Sood and Satish John report that this move aims to ensure continuity and stability within the Trusts that collectively hold a majority in Tata Sons. The Tata Trusts are pivotal in the governance of Tata Sons, and have a key say in the conglomerate's strategic direction.

The second-quarter results for India's IT stocks weren't all that great. The four leading companies: TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCL Tech—all saw some declines. Jas Bardia reports that TCS saw a significant drop in large deal bookings. It attributed this decline to the lack of mega deals, but remained optimistic about its order value range. Infosys also witnessed a decrease in large deal values but saw an increase in smaller deals. Wipro was able to buck the trend and sign more large deals, as it opted for a consulting-led approach and offered more AI services.

It's never a bad time to buy gold, but the recent surge in prices has put off buyers for now. Gold now costs around 80,000 rupees per 10 grams. Such high prices have led to a dent in demand during the festive and wedding season between October and December. Ram Sahgal writes that the increase in prices is due to uncertainties like the US elections, potential geopolitical tensions, and changes in US policy rate. Demand for the precious metal has dropped by around 10 to 12 percent. Some retailers are seeing a rise in exchanges. They are maintaining sales volumes as some consumers continue to buy more gold, worried about even higher prices.

India's rubber production is prone to volatility. Climate change and low volatility have threatened what was once a thriving industry. Despite these hurdles, the demand for rubber has surged in India. George Skaria writes that India's rubber production slightly increased from 8.4 lakh tonnes to 8.6 lakh tonnes from 2022 to 2023, but consumption outpaced supply. That led to a shortage worth 5.5 lakh tonnes. This scenario has impacted tyre manufacturers, who now rely on imports to meet demand. George's story outlines the entire rubber trade in India, and the vast complications that adversely affect both manufacturers as well as consumers.

Since the 1990s, Photoshop has been a staple in photo editing. You would think that the emergence of generative AI would replace Photoshop, but that hasn't been the case. Shouvik Das writes that rather than replacing it, AI is instead augmenting the process of editing images. Tools like Autodesk’s Pixlr and Canva have also embraced AI to expand their user base beyond professional designers.