The world’s fastest-growing economy adds a billionaire a day, but jobs are tough to come by

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India has reclaimed its status as the world’s fastest-growing major economy. According to data from the Central Statistics Office, the country’s GDP grew 7.2% in the October-December quarter — up from 6.5% in the previous quarter and 5.7% in April-June — on the back of higher economic activity. For the full financial year, however, the economy is projected to grow at 6.6%, as per CSO’s second advance estimates. The recovery is also evident from the core sector’s performance — the combined index of eight core industries, such as cement, power and steel, rose 6.7% in January from 4.2% in December 2017.

The country added 56 billionaires last year to take its tally to 170, according to the Hurun Global Rich List. Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani topped the India list ($45 billion), followed by ArcelorMittal’s LN Mittal and Sun Pharma founder Dilip Shanghvi. Almost a third of the India list comprises new entrants as several businesses floundered in the past year. “When India’s GDP touches $6 trillion by 2022, we expect the number of billionaires to at least double,” said Hurun's Anas Rahman Junaid. China topped the charts with 819 billionaires and the US was a distant second with 571 billionaires.

India's unemployment rate has hit a 17-month high of 7.1%. Citing data from Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, Quartz reports that around 31 million unemployed people are looking for jobs — and the situation is likely to worsen. While urban India will find it tough to accommodate fresh graduates entering the workforce in May, villages are likely to see a slowdown after the rabi harvest. India's joblessness rate fell to 3.4% in July 2017, but it has been rising since. Finance minister Arun Jaitley had claimed in his Budget speech that steps taken by the government had led to creation of 7 million jobs in FY18.

The CBI has arrested an auditor of Punjab National Bank’s Brady House branch in connection with the $2 billion fraud perpetrated by billionaire jeweler Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi. MK Sharma, the arrested auditor, was responsible for reporting any problems around the systems and practices at the branch to the zonal audit office, Livemint reports. Sharma will be presented in a Mumbai court today. Thirteen people have been arrested in relation to the fraud but Modi and Choksi are still “absconding”.

Corporate executives are disassociating themselves from Nirav Modi’s business empire, Economic Times reports. Sanjay Rishi of American Express, former PepsiCo executive Gautham Mukkavilli, and ex-Wipro CFO Suresh Senapaty have resigned from the board of Firestar International — the flagship of Modi’s jewelry business. Former Facebook India MD Kirthiga Reddy — not a statutory director but a senior advisory board member at Firestar — has also moved on. The US unit of Firestar had filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday, citing liquidity and supply chain challenges.

Idea of the Day:  Giving effective feedback is a skill that requires practice, says McKinsey’s Glenn Leibowitz, who follows a number of principles to make sure his feedback sticks.

“You'll be more effective if you provide context. Make the linkages very clear: How does their performance impact not only their own work, but also the work of the rest of your team, and, ultimately, the performance of your company?”

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— Abhigyan Chand and Disha Sharma / Share this using #DailyRundown