The Overall Business Confidence Index in India touched a decadal high of 74.2 points in the December quarter, the trade association Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) said today (March 8). Nearly 30% of the survey respondents expect they will post higher profits in the first half of 2021 thanks to greater pricing power and recovery in demand. Over 30% of participants in the Ficci survey said they expect “higher to much higher investments” in the first half of 2021. The economy is expected to continue its upward trajectory, soon making India the fastest-growing country in the world.

In fact, one in every five working women said their companies exhibited a favourable bias towards men. While 37% of India’s working women say they get fewer opportunities than men, only 25% of men agree that this happens. Motherhood or other caregiver responsibilities (which often fall on women) lead to more women taking a career break than men. Instead of being punitive towards a gap in their resume, we must support a return to work not only for women but also men.

The comments from Sitharaman counter a proposed bill from the Indian government in January of this year that would ban all private cryptocurrencies. The proposed law would also include a system for the creation and regulation of an official cryptocurrency issued by the country’s central bank and the promotion of blockchain, the technology underlying digital currencies. Local business and lobbying groups like the Association for Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Asset Entrepreneurs and the Blockchain and Crypto Committee formed in response to the news of the potential ban in an effort to lobby the government and enhance its understanding of cryptocurrencies. While Sitharaman said the country’s central bank would take the lead on overseeing “unofficial cryptos”, her comments indicated a possible outcome of regulating cryptocurrencies instead of an outright ban.

The oil industry is no stranger to boom-bust cycles, but the pandemic has been its wildest ride to date, and on March 4 it’s due to take another turn when OPEC meets to consider rolling back production cuts. As the world’s cars and airplanes idled, global oil demand bottomed out in April at levels 16.4% below the previous year, dragging the price into negative territory for the first time. March 2020: As the global economy freezes up, Saudi Arabia and Russia can’t agree on production cuts, and the price dips 30% overnight. June-July 2020: As OPEC’s production cuts sink in, the price rises, but stalls around $40.