News Broadcasting
“To make in India, but to benchmark it in the world:” Fareed Zakaria
MUMBAI: With PM Narendra Modi inaugurating the Make in India Week 2016 on 13 February, the second day of the week started with the CNN Asia Business Forum 2016. With seven sessions lined back to back, the forum enthralled delegates with a series of dynamic dialogues. The interactive discussion briefly explored new ideas, growing technology, secrets of leadership and the challenges Asia faces plus the tactics.
Gracing the forum with their presence were eminent personalities like Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley, Cisco executive chairman John Chambers, GE president and CEO South Asia Banmali Agrawala, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Managalam Birla, Emerson Electric Co. president Edward Monser, Google India and South East Asia MD Rajan Anandan, Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bhal, Vinnova director general Charlotte Brogren, DJI director of strategic partnerships Michael Perry, AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes, Kerry Logistic Network chairman George Yeo and US Ambassador to India Richard Verma.
The sessions were moderated by CNN’s business anchors Fareed Zakaria, Richard Quest and CNN Asia Pacific editor Andrew Stevens.
With a mission to make the viewers understand about the world around us, Zakaria addressed the ‘State of the World’ by providing a snapshot of the global geopolitics.
“The world is in a mess almost everywhere you look but you certainly have to start with the Middle East to understand how the people are anxious and uncertain about things,” Zakaria said.
With countries like Lybia or Syria facing crisis in the current scenario against to what it was 40 years back, Zakaria strongly believes that the states system, which was built back during the World War I is essentially collapsing. “The states at that time were ruled by highly repressive dictators who knew law and order very well. But what has happened 10 years back is that these dictatorships have one by one have proved to be more and more fragile,” he says.
The one characteristic that remains common and extremely important is that in these nations, the dictator left and what was noticed later on is the fact that there was no state or administrative institution to maintain political order. Going further, he explains that underneath the state it was noticed that there was no civic society or organisation to maintain social order and underneath that what you discover is that there is no nation.
Zakaria points out, “People have retreated to identities that make them unavoidably hostile to one another. When order collapses you look for something that gives you security and stability and that security does not come in the Middle East from your national identity. These nations were created recently. It’s coming from much older identities like Siaa, Sunni, Arabians, etc, who are 1000 – 2000 year old identities. They have created an inbuilt sectoring of religious conflicts that persist and is going to take some time to be sorted out.”
US engine has become the largest engine for producing liquid hydrocarbon in the world. The unbalanced supply and demand are the two engines that rightly explain the crisis. Zakaria explains, “The one engine in the US, which saw a growth from $1 million – $10 million in 10 years and the other engine being the declining demand in China.”
Zakaria sheds light on how Europe faced crisis and how in the past 25 years the European Union has solved every economical challenge. “Every time the people thought the European Union is going to collapse, it endured, deepened and strengthened itself. Those were economic challenges but now they are facing political challenges about national identity and that proves to be harder to solve,” adds the CNN anchor.
“If you look at the western hemisphere, the US is still probably the most powerful economy today. It’s growing fast at a pace twice as Europe and four times faster than Japan and is growing past many emerging markets like Brazil or South Africa. What is happening in Asia is an export dominated growth and a move that is shifting more to domestic consumption. For these countries, the decline of all has been an avoid depressing,” he says.
The challenge that India has to face is how it deals with the issues and the opportunities from the global perspective. One of the discussions shed light on how India is doing compared to China, Turkey, Vietnam or Indonesia and that comparison is the key issue for India to recognise that there is a global competition for investment, for tropical, for talent and how does India solves this key issue.
“When Manmohan Singh announced reforms for India in early 1990s, he compared it with South Korea. At that time, the GDP for the two countries were same but later South Korea became bigger by contributing 13 times more to the GDP than India. But India has potential to grow and has done well from then to now. Today South Korea’s per capita GDP is 20 times that of India’s. So the world moves on and India is doing extremely well but it needs to look around and make sure it does as well as what the rest nations are doing,” concluded Zakaria.
News Broadcasting
Induction cooktop demand spikes 30× amid LPG supply concerns
Supply worries linked to West Asia tensions push households and restaurants to turn to electric cooking alternatives
MUMBAI: As geopolitical tensions in West Asia ripple through global energy supply chains, the familiar blue flame in Indian kitchens is facing an unexpected challenger: electricity.
What began as concerns over the availability of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has quickly evolved into a technology-driven shift in cooking habits. Households across India are increasingly turning to induction cooktops and other electric appliances, initially as a backup but now, for many, a necessity.
A sudden surge in demand
Recent data from quick-commerce and grocery platform BigBasket highlights the scale of the shift. According to Seshu Kumar Tirumala, the company’s chief buying and merchandising officer, demand for induction cooktops has risen dramatically.
“Induction cooktops have seen a significant surge in demand, recording a fivefold jump on 10 March and a thirtyfold spike on 11 March,” Tirumala said.
The increase stands out sharply when compared with broader kitchen appliance trends. Most appliance categories are growing within 10 per cent of their typical demand levels, while induction cooktops have witnessed explosive growth as households rush to secure an alternative cooking option.
Major e-commerce platforms including Amazon and Flipkart have reported rising searches and orders for induction stoves. Quick-commerce apps such as Blinkit and Zepto have also witnessed stock shortages in major metropolitan areas including Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
What was once considered a convenient appliance for hostels, small kitchens or occasional use has suddenly become an essential addition in many homes.
A crisis thousands of miles away
The trigger for this shift lies far beyond India’s kitchens.
Escalating conflict in the Middle East has disrupted shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical energy corridors. Nearly 85 to 90 per cent of India’s LPG imports pass through this narrow waterway, making the country particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions.
The ripple effects have been swift.
India currently meets roughly 60 per cent of its LPG demand through imports, and tightening global supply has already begun to affect domestic availability and prices.
Earlier this month, the price of domestic LPG cylinders increased by Rs 60, while commercial cylinders rose by more than Rs 114.
To discourage panic buying and hoarding, the government has also extended the mandatory waiting period between domestic refill bookings from 21 days to 25 days.
Restaurants feel the pressure
The strain is not limited to households. Restaurants, hotels and roadside eateries are also grappling with supply constraints as commercial LPG availability tightens under restrictions imposed through the Essential Commodities Act.
In cities such as Bengaluru and Chennai, restaurant associations report that commercial LPG availability has dropped by as much as 75 per cent, forcing many establishments to rethink their kitchen operations.
Some restaurants have reduced menu offerings, while others are rapidly installing high-efficiency induction systems, creating hybrid kitchens where electricity now shares the workload with gas.
For smaller eateries and roadside dhabas, the shift is less about sustainability and more about survival.
A potential structural shift
The government has maintained that there is no nationwide LPG crisis and has directed refineries to increase production to stabilise supply.
Nevertheless, the developments of March 2026 may already be triggering a longer-term behavioural shift.
For decades, LPG has been the backbone of cooking in Indian households. However, recent disruptions have highlighted the risks of relying on a single fuel source.
Increasingly, households appear to be hedging against uncertainty by adopting electric cooking options to guard against price volatility and delivery delays.
If the current trend continues, the induction cooktop, once viewed as a niche appliance, could emerge as a quiet symbol of India’s evolving kitchen economy.
