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Dollarama Inc. stock rises Wednesday, still underperforms marketFor the logistics sector, the year gone by was marked by efforts to move closer to the goals envisaged by the National Logistic Policy (NLP) in 2022. Following India’s elevation to the 38th ranking among 139 nations in the World Bank Index in 2023, the focus in 2024 was on reducing logistics cost from the prevailing 10-14 per cent. The Economic Survey 2023-24 states that the Centre launched the NLP and the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (in 2021) to boost efficiency and lower logistics costs, alongside digital reforms like the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) and the Logistics Data Bank. The electrification of the short railway lines connecting railway yards to inland container depots and container freight stations has facilitated faster movement and release of wagons by the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI); additionally, the NLP Marine policy was launched for port-related logistics. Since the launch of the NLP, over 614 entities have registered on ULIP, with 106 private companies signing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs); 142 companies have cumulatively submitted 382 use cases for ULIP, including data exchange, document digitisation and process automation; and 57 applications have been made live, as of September 2023, to facilitate logistical requirements such as cross-border trade, last-mile delivery optimisation, and reverse logistics. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) has played a remarkable role in reducing logistics cost. The ‘one nation, one tax’ regime has cut the waiting time of trucks at State borders, thereby reducing travel time by nearly 30 per cent. This, in turn, has reduced logistics cost and increased the average distance covered by trucks to 300-325 km from 225 km, the survey said. Air India plans international network expansion; Manila, Jakarta on radar Adani Ports orders 8 tugs with Cochin Shipyard for ₹450 crore IRCTC outage: ‘technical glitch’ being resolved, says officials A report by the National Council of Applied Economic Research in December 2023 shows that logistics cost declined by 0.8-0.9 percentage points of GDP between FY14 and FY22. The improvement in logistics performance is reflected at the State-level too. Logistics is now a booming sector, given its crucial role in supply chains — whether road, rail, air, waterways or warehouses. Experts remain bullish on the sector’s future prospects. Rampraveen Swaminathan, Managing Director and CEO of Mahindra Logistics Ltd, says the industry underwent transformative changes in 2024, driven by macro trends such as deeper digital adoption, and an intensified focus on risk management. Government-led initiatives like Gati Shakti, One Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), and ULIP have further empowered the sector to meet evolving customer expectations, he says. Combined with the China Plus One strategy (diversifying manufacturing and sourcing operations beyond China), India’s position as a critical player in the global supply chain ecosystem has been reinforced. “As we enter 2025, the logistics sector is poised for significant growth, supported by rising data transparency and advanced digitisation. Supportive policies in the warehousing sector, including grant of infrastructure status and expanded foreign direct investment opportunities, are accelerating the development of multi-client warehousing facilities,” he says. As the logistics landscape evolves, the 11.1 per cent increase in capital expenditure for infrastructure signals the significant growth opportunities in the sector, driving India’s ambition of becoming a $5-trillion economy by 2027, Swaminathan says. According to Mahesh Fogla, Executive Director, Patel Integrated Logistics Limited, the robust growth in the logistics sector in 2024 was driven by a 12 per cent annual expansion rate, increasing domestic consumption, and government-backed initiatives like Gati Shakti and NLP. The sector, valued at $250 billion and contributing 14 per cent to India’s GDP, demonstrated resilience as it transitioned from an unorganised to a structured industry, he says. He lists key advancements such as infrastructure modernisation and the rollout of employee-linked incentive schemes, which addressed skill gaps and encouraged job creation. He calls for more efforts towards streamlining operations and enhancing workforce skills to fully unlock the sector’s potential. E-commerce growth, demand for faster delivery, and export expansion driven by the productivity-linked incentive scheme will amplify goods movement, positioning India to capitalise on global trade opportunities, he says. He also foresees that government initiatives such as UDAN (to promote regional air connectivity) and NLP, alongside investments in technology, infrastructure, and workforce development will cut logistics cost by 4-5 per cent, enhancing India’s competitiveness in global markets. Ketan Kulkarni, Deputy Managing Director, Gati Express and Supply Chain, echoes this, saying, “Enhancing connectivity, achieving cost-efficiency, and building resilience and agility through technology adoption and capacity building have been the key drivers as the logistics industry continues to enable India’s vision for Viksit Bharat 2047.” Progress in rail and waterway freight movement, alongside extensive highway construction, have heralded a new era of multi-modal connectivity, strengthening India’s position as a rising global economic powerhouse, Kulkarni says. Thanks to the NLP, the national maritime portal Sagar Sethu is now online, the Sagar Ankalan portal to monitor port deficiencies is in place, the Coastal Shipping Bill has been enacted, and a study has been launched to measure logistics cost in India, says Rajesh Menon, a maritime expert. What remains to be done, according to him, includes technology integration to further reduce logistics cost, measuring the ease of doing business on the ground, and bringing to fruition the maritime connectivity projects identified in the Union Budget with an outlay of ₹75,000 crore. The Indian Port Bill awaits implementation, while the transition from land-based to coastal transportation needs to be hastened, he says. Comments
Reliance signs 10-yr deal with Russia's Rosneft for $12-13bn a year oil import, 2024 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has died at age 100. Here are some of his quotes: * "I can't deny I'm a better ex-president than I was a president." - 2005 interview with reporters * "The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation. "The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America. - a 1979 televised address on what was wrong with America; it became known as Carter's "malaise speech" * "America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, it is the other way round. Human rights invented America." - Carter's Jan. 14, 1981, presidential farewell address * "I've looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times. God knows I will do this and forgives me." - a 1976 interview with Playboy magazine * "A simple and a proper function of government is just to make it easy for us to do good and difficult for us to do wrong." - Carter's speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976 * "War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children." - Carter's 2002 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech * "I think that under Trump the government is worse than it has been before. This is the first time I remember when the truth is ignored, allies are deliberately aggravated, China, Europe, Mexico and Canada are hurt economically and have to hurt us in response, Americans see the future worse than the present, and immigrants are treated cruelly." - Carter in a 2018 interview with Salon (Compiled by Bill Trott and Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Diane Craft)
LAS VEGAS — If Texas coach Steve Sarkisian holds aloft the College Football Playoff trophy next month, that will be bad news for BetMGM Sportsbook. It would be similarly disappointing if any of the coaches at Boise State, Indiana or Arizona State end up celebrating a title with confetti falling all around them inside Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Wait, what? Texas has attracted a lot of money all season to go all the way, but those other schools provide the hope of a big payoff. The fifth-seeded Longhorns are the co-favorite at BetMGM with No. 1 and unbeaten Oregon at 7-2 odds; the other three are least 40-1, while Georgia is right behind Oregon and Texas as the next favorite. "These teams get hot and people just want to have a flyer on them," BetMGM trading manager Seamus Magee said. "They don't want to be standing there and not have a ticket on some of these long-shot teams." Expanding the playoff field from four to 12 teams this year meant more betting in general on college football and more varieties of wagering on the postseason. There were meaningful games played in the final month by not only Arizona State, Boise State and Indiana, but also SMU, Army and UNLV — a number of teams not always in the national title conversation. "It's one of the highest handles we've ever had on our national-championship market," Magee said. "We're in more states, for one, but the activity and the betting patterns we're seeing, it definitely feels a lot more than it has in years past." Magee said BetMGM has received action on both sides of the first-round game between 11th-seeded SMU and sixth-seeded Penn State, but the Mustangs have drawn notable action at DraftKings and Caesars Sportsbook. Money on SMU dropped Penn State from a 9-point favorite at DraftKings to 8 1/2. "Any time they've played a real good team, they've had trouble," Johnny Avello, DraftKings race and sports operations director, said of the Nittany Lions. "SMU shows that they're pretty good on both sides of the football and pretty resilient as a team. Always in the game. Always finds ways to fight back." Joey Feazel, who oversees football trading for Caesars, said much of the early betting in general was on underdogs. "Usually, you see the dog money for these teams come late, especially on the sharps' (professional bettors) side," Feazel said. Boise State, which as the third seed has a first-round bye, will be the underdog in its quarterfinal matchup with Penn State or SMU. The Broncos got into the field as the highest-ranked Group of Five champion, but Avello said that doesn't mean they are one of the nation's top 12 teams (they are ranked No. 8 by AP and No. 9 by CFP). Avello said BYU, Colorado and Miami — none of which made the playoff — all would be favored over them. "There are a lot of teams that aren't in the playoffs that would be favored," Avello said. "That's just not the way these playoffs work." Feazel said Boise State not being able to play at home on its blue carpet will be a notable disadvantage. Boise State's quarterfinal game will be at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. "It will be all neutral," Feazel said. "It's a big step up in class for Boise." Instead of all the games being played in climate-controlled domes or warm-weather locales — as has been in the case in past postseasons — three of the four first-round matchups will take place in the Northeast and Midwest. While that might not make a difference when Notre Dame hosts in-state foe Indiana, Ohio State will be at home against Tennessee and SMU visits Penn State. BetMGM favors all four home teams by more than a touchdown. "You have to take the weather into account for some of these games," Magee said. "It's going to be really cool to see a team like Tennessee that will have to go up to Columbus, where it can get really cold. SMU has to go from Dallas to Happy Valley. That's definitely going to be one of the coldest games a lot of those kids have played in their lives." SMU was the last team in the field, getting the benefit of the doubt over Alabama. The Mustangs had one fewer defeat than the three-loss Crimson Tide, who did not appear in the SEC title game. SMU lost on a 56-yard field goal to Clemson in the ACC championship. The sportsbook operators said the Tide would be favored by 5-10 points if they met SMU on a neutral field. Get local news delivered to your inbox!WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Defense Department, said he had a “wonderful conversation” with Maine Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday as he pushed to win enough votes for confirmation. He said he will not back down after allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct. Related Articles Collins said after the hourlong meeting that she questioned Hegseth about the allegations amid reports of drinking and the revelation that he made a settlement payment after being that he denies. She said she had a “good, substantive” discussion with Hegseth and “covered a wide range of topics,” including sexual assault in the military, Ukraine and NATO. But she said she would wait until a hearing, and notably a background check, to make a decision. “I asked virtually every question under the sun,” Collins told reporters as she left her office after the meeting. “I pressed him both on his position on military issues as well as the allegations against him, so I don’t think there was anything that we did not cover.” The meeting with Collins was closely watched as she is seen as more likely than most of her Republican Senate colleagues to vote against some of Trump’s Cabinet picks. She and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a fellow moderate Republican, did not shy from opposing Trump in his first term when they wanted to do so and sometimes supported President Joe Biden’s nominees for the judicial and executive branches. And Hegseth, an infantry combat veteran and former “Fox & Friends” weekend host, is working to gain as many votes as he can as some senators have expressed concerns about his personal history and lack of management experience. “I’m certainly not going to assume anything about where the senator stands,” Hegseth said as he left Collins’ office. “This is a process that we respect and appreciate. And we hope, in time, overall, when we get through that committee and to the floor that we can earn her support.” Hegseth met with Murkowski on Tuesday. He has also been meeting repeatedly with Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, a military veteran who has said she is a survivor of sexual assault and has spent time in the Senate working on improving how attacks are reported and prosecuted within the ranks. On Monday, Ernst said after a meeting with him that he had committed to selecting a senior official to prioritize those goals. Republicans will have a 53-49 majority next year, meaning Trump cannot lose more than three votes on any of his nominees. It is so far unclear whether Hegseth will have enough support, but Trump has stepped up his pressure on senators in the last week. “Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!” Trump posted on his social media platform last week.
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(The Center Square) – Out of the 10 worst states to work in based on one analysis, four still continue to see some of the highest numbers of in-migration, data from a recent study and the 2024 U.S. Census Bureau cumulatively show. Taking into account disposable income, average commute time, average hours worked per week, workplace safety, and happiness levels by state, the weighted analysis by Vaziri Law ranks Hawaii, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Nevada, Vermont, Indiana, West Virginia, Arizona, and South Carolina as the worst states in which to work. Many of the study’s findings are unsurprising, given the financial hardship reported in most of those states, with the notable exception of Vermont. For example, Louisiana, Kentucky and West Virginia have some of the highest poverty rates in the nation, while Tennessee and Nevada have some of the highest numbers of residents in financial distress, according to a study by personal finance website WalletHub. But the Vaziri Law analysis actually ranks Hawaii, which consistently scores low marks for economic freedom , as the number one worst state to work. The rating is slightly skewed by the state having the lowest average disposable income, $5,929 per working resident. Hawaiian workers do have good workplace safety rates, ranking 13th out of all 50 states, and a relatively high happiness score of 66.31 out of 100, with 100 being the happiest. In the second worst state to work in, Louisiana residents have the longest average working hours on the list at 44.3 per week, and also face poor workplace safety conditions, ranking 40th out of 50. Additionally, workers in the Bayou State are some of the most depressed in the nation, reporting a happiness index of 34.81. But they have roughly triple the disposable income of Hawaiian workers, at $15,364. “This research highlights the significant challenges workers face across the U.S., from financial strain to poor work-life balance," a spokesperson from Vaziri Law told The Center Square. "States like Hawaii, with the lowest disposable income, and Louisiana, with extended work hours and low happiness levels, underscore the need for systemic changes to improve workplace conditions, safety, and overall quality of life for employees.” Tennessee, coming in third, has a good workplace safety ranking of 11 out of 50 but a happiness index of 43.35. The average worker has a disposable income of $18,078 and works just over 40 hours a week with a 26-minute commute. In Kentucky, workers dedicate an average of 40.8 hours to work per week and have around $15,982 in disposable income. The happiness index rating is low, sitting at 38.36. By contrast, Nevada’s happiness index is ten points higher, but the average disposable income is more than $2,000 lower. Both states have decent workplace safety ratings. Despite having the highest workplace safety rate in the country and a 37.8 hour work week on average, Vermont ranks low due to the 48.46 happiness index and $15,263 average disposable income. Indiana does better at $17,293, but workers put in more hours and have slightly lower happiness and safety rankings. West Virginia ranks dead last on the list for both workplace safety – 45 out of 50 – and happiness levels at 33.83; plus, it has the longest average commute time. But a West Virginia resident’s average disposable income of $14,309, nearly is triple that of Hawaii. Arizona, in ninth place on the list, reports that its average worker has a disposable income of $18,764 and works 40.6 hours per week. It has a relatively high workplace safety rank of 9 and a mediocre happiness index of 50.22. Residents of South Carolina have an average of $15,824 in disposable income on hand. They face worse safety conditions, ranking 16, and have a lower happiness index, 49.62, than Arizonans. But South Carolina workers also clock in two hours less on average, around 38.2 hours per week. Even with less-than-ideal work conditions, Arizona and South Carolina, as well as Tennessee and Nevada, continue to be some of the top destinations for domestic migration, according to the IRS and 2024 Census Bureau data. Other factors, like safety, job opportunities, political climate and more play a factor in-migration.Hegseth meets with moderate Sen. Collins as he lobbies for key votes in the Senate