R is a popular programming language used for statistical computing and graphics by developers. This open sourced tool is not only just a programming language but also an excellent IDE. One important field of its applications is data analysis. Statisticians and data miners largely prefer R to develop their statistical software. However, R is not as popular as programming languages such as Java or Python. This article discusses the importance of R in the current era where data is everything.
How important is R?
We know that programming software like python offers an easy to understand syntax and higher versatility. Yet, R is preferred among data analysts. The reason for is that R was designed for statisticians. Hence R comes with field-specific advantages such as great data visualization features. A large number of major organizations are found using R in their operations. Google not only uses R but developed the standards for the language which got wide acceptance.
Revolution Analytics, kind of a commercial version of R was purchased by Microsoft and they provided servers and services on top of it. So, in general, despite the steep learning curve and uneasy syntax, R has its own advantages and the industry has recognized it very well.
In the opinion of experts, R is expected to remain as an indispensable resource for the data scientists for a very long time. The wide range of pre-defined packages and libraries for the statistical analyses will keep R in the top. The introduction of platforms such as Shiny has already resulted in increased popularity of R, even among the non-specialists.
So, Should You Continue Taking that Course Teaches Machine Learning via R?
It is known that every professional with a machine learning certification has huge career opportunities waiting ahead. But it is important to possess the exact skills the employers are looking for. So, is R such a skill wanted by employers? Well, it is observed that organizations are moving towards Python at a slow pace. In academic settings and data analysis R is still most popular, but when it comes to professional use, Python is leading. Python has achieved this by providing substantial packages similar to R. Even though most machine learning tasks are doable by both languages, Python performs better when it comes to repetitive tasks and data manipulation. A better possibility of integration is another advantage of Python. Also, your project may consist of more than just statistics.
It is recommended to start learning Python if you haven’t spent much time with your Machine Learning course that teaches through R. After learning python, you can use RPy2 to access the functionalities offered by R. In effect, you will have the power of two different languages in one. Since most of the companies have production systems ready for this language, Python is always production-ready. Even if you feel like learning R after learning RPy2, it is pretty easy to do. But moving to Python after R is relatively much difficult. If you are already too deep in R, ignore everything and focus on it.
Day: May 24, 2019
How Big Data Analytics can impact business results?
Big data analytics are for those companies, corporates, and global organizations that take their businesses and the respective business aspects such as efficiency, growth rate, profit-making, market positioning, market targets, customer satisfaction and stakeholder satisfaction seriously, and wish to see a consistent development and progress in all of these business aspects periodically.
Let us deeply examine how big data analytics can impact your business.
1. Data collection gives insight – The general big data collection made by companies and corporates sketch a deep insight into its customers, trends in markets, profit scopes and loss areas, help in understanding their product in relation to the business market, and the target products and services that will enable bigger profits and revenues to the company/organization at large.
2. Improvement of internal operations – With the impact of big data analysis not only will you be able to understand the business worlds, business markets, your goods/services value in this relation, you will also understand what business aspects and agencies within your business operations need attention and work. This can positively contribute to the progress, development, and profitability of your company/organization largely.
3. Understand employees and workforce – Through big data analysis you will be able to understand the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of your company’s/corporate workforce at large, and be able to help them become better at their skill sets, tools, and techniques, or you may even choose to hire better, and competent professionals from the job market. This will naturally impact your organization’s success scale in various contexts.
4. Helps understand the consumer – Big data analytics not only helps you understand the needs, requirements, and standards that your stakeholder wishes you to deliver but it also imparts a deep understanding about the consumers in the marketplace. This will, in turn, inform you about the aspects where you can improve, re-build, and develop your goods and services as per the consumer market demands and requirements. This will add to your corporate profitability and growth immensely.
5. Understand your company’s strengths – Big data analytics with all its insight and analysis about the information on market trends, customers demands, market’s profits, and demands, helps you sustain your business by giving you a clear analysis and look into your company’s already existing strengths and merits. These can be worked upon further to gain more progress, development, business evolution and direct your profits in a seamless manner. You will also understand what makes your company a leader, and be able to predict its future with the help of big data analysis.
The above are but just some of the advantages of big data analysis. A professional big data analyst will tell you that data mining today is equivalent to gold mining a company, and these information pieces, data, and tools must be kept with the company for the present, and future analysis, and also to learn from past failures/blunders. Thus, big data analysis is a comprehensible, strong tool in understanding an organization/corporate/enterprise in the most precise manner possible. You can gain a big data analytics course to kick start a job in data analytics as a career.
Reliance Realty to Build Fintech Center in Navi Mumbai
The emergence of the amalgamation of technology and finance-related knowledge has created a consistent demand for banking services, fintech evolution, catering to the financial and insurance segment services, IT and cloud-based services and technology, the NBFC sector services and in keeping with the flow the growth of knowledge and training centers and institutes. Over the next two decades, this is expected to be the growing, return-oriented and most rapidly developing the economic sector. The state and central governments also have gone all out to promote and have a growth policy in place for the disrupting fintech segment.
Little wonder then that very large players like Reliance also have jumped onto the bandwagon. With a current -2.78 percent on NSE, RCom has taken all necessary approvals and initiated the development of its infrastructure in a well-timed plan to use its assets to develop Navi Mumbai’s island Smart Center for Fintech through its subsidiary realty arm. The Knowledge City named after its founder Dhirubhai Ambani- DAKC will have 3 million sft leasable and saleable space spread over a sprawling 132 acres campus in the satellite Navi Mumbai city. The Maharashtra Government, DIT and MIDC have approved the move lending credence to the promotion of Fintech in Maharashtra. The project is being touted as being twice the available space of the business complex in the busy industrial area of Bandra-Kurla of the city of Navi Mumbai.
RCom was recently in the eye of the debt-storm with an outstanding debt amounting to a little over 46 thousand crores in rupees and its filing an insolvency application in February 2019. Among its leading 40 creditors are Chinese and domestic banks besides Ericson. Using the route of restructuring of Strategic Debts, working on the sale of its spectrum, and the sale of its Nippon subsidiary, R Com had promised its creditors like the European Ericson to repay 550-cr Rs and defaulted forcing them to approach the highest court and NCL tribunal. The heavily indebted and financially stressed R Com has yet to begin its payments and the time-bound NCLT fast-tracked resolution is yet to see progress, which has been the situation for over nearly a year-and-a-half now. As of today, the creditors have not received any proceeds and the resolution plans which are underway, seem a long way off.
Swedish Ericsson has been baying for blood and repayment causing RCom and its subsidiaries RTelecom and RInfratel are also expected to file for insolvency separately. In an NCLT aided move for debt repayment and tardy resolution, the NCLT was quick to point out that the drawn-up plans are subject to speedy debt resolution and debtor repayments in a transparent manner where the funds from monetization of assets will need to be fast-tracked since the 270 day framework prescribed is fast drawing to its end. On the other hand, Shri Anil Ambani the Chairman has always claimed the plot which was the corporate hub of its operations had a developable market-value of 25,000 Cr in rupees.
Concluding Notes:
On an ending note, the establishment of the smart center for fintech in Maharashtra at Navi Mumbai sees the Reliance giant utilizing its property of over 132 acres in setting up an over 3 million sft state-of-the-art facility. The nearly finished and bankrupt titan hopes to be in the thick of the fintech revolution with this move for a structured government backed monetization initiative. Whether this move will bail out the stressed industrial giant is yet to be seen. However, it is aligned with the state policy to promote and develop the Fintech sector as its newest gambit in industrial development.
Do you have a head for spotting trends in the evolving financial markets and see scope for the policies and promotion of the fintech segment? Are you hoping to make a career of this and need efficient result-oriented training? Then, it is very important to select a reputed and experienced training partner especially at the beginning of your career.
If you also wish to be a part of the fintech revolution and wish to know how you can make a career in this evolving and promising field, then, check out the finance, technology and fintech courses at Imarticus Learning. The Learning-experience is based on the latest improvements and the methodology lays emphasis on being able to practically apply your knowledge. Besides, who wouldn’t want an able, reputed mentor and assured placements? Hurry, fintech is evolving rapidly.
Current Liquidity Crisis and M&A
The financial crisis of NBFCs a major concern
For a long time, various corporations, including insurance firms, had made investments through short-term instruments in the Infrastructure Finance Company IL&FS, which has to led to a significant liquidity crunch today. Amidst this scenario, the Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) have been majorly affected by the current liquidity crisis in India. The relationship between the Government and RBI is going through a rough phase as well due to the prevailing circumstances. Adding to the tension is the ban on using Aadhaar information for microlending during December 2018.
Interference of RBI to save IL & FS from the liquidity crunch
The reports from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) states that the total debts of IL&FS as of 2017-2018 balance sheet stands at INR 63,000 crores today. The NBFCs were expecting a ray of hope from the RBI, but to their surprise, the reserve bank imposed more rigid rules and regulations for risk management, and asset-liability structures. In the last quarter of 2018, the RBI had announced to inject INR 40,000 crore to help the soaring funds through Government securities into the system.
The problems faced by NBFCs are mostly attributed to their dependencies in short-term borrowings and long-term lending loans to builders and real estate players. Therefore RBI’s ruling enforces more disciplined liquidity management in the future is a welcoming approach. However, the point to be concerned is the unknown course of action for the NBFCs to get out of the present liquidity crisis without which implementing new measures is difficult.
The financial crunch of the NBFCs has affected the loans against the property market in the fiscal year 2019 in India. A secured loan where one party pledges a property with a lender and borrow against it is a Loan Against Property (LAP). In a report from the reporting agency, India Ratings and Research stated that the weak LAP in FY19 is mainly due to lack of strong emotions on the property market and the liquidity crunch faced by NBFCs.
An insight into global M&A
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) World Investment Report of 2019 release states that there is a substantial decline in the global FDI by 13% in 2018 which is a third consecutive decline. The slide in global FDI is USD 1.3T in 2018 from USD 1.5T in 2017. However, India witnessed a 6% growth in FDI in 2018 to 42B. This growth is attributed to the activities in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, communication, production, and financial service sector.
The growth of e-commerce in India is expected to increase tentatively by a large extent. It is estimated that India’s e-commerce transactions to reach USD200B by 2026. Further, the trending online retail businesses coupled with telecommunication growth has leveraged the increase in cross-border M&As in India to USD 33B in 2018 from USD 23B in 2017.
The domestic M&A emerging as a life saver
A blockbuster merger was by the American multinational retail corporation, Walmart and India’s largest fashion e-commerce giant Flipkart. The telecommunication alliances and deals were worth USD 2B that collectively associates deals from Vodafone and American Tower. India’s blooming year for M&As was 2018, after which the first quarter of FY2019 has been low. The reason for this subdued effect is attributed to the gloomy global M&A market.
The quarterly report figures indicated a fall in M&A in Q1CY19 to $9.9B from $21.6b in Q1CY18. However, the domestic deals were a breather for India, the most significant being the merger between Bandhan bank and Gruh Finance, which was a $3.2B deal. Another agreement was between GMR airports, and Tata group led Consortium, which amounted to $1.2B. While Japan and Germany were favorite partners for cross-border M&A, the US remained at the top of the chart with 14 inbounds and 14 outbound deals with India. The Indian business executives are high on confidence that one-third of them are expected to undertake M&A in 2019.
To Sum Up
The backup of domestic consolidation for India and continued support of interests from FDI is considered a root cause for having a stable M&A in the future. Given the weak sentiment in the bond market, the current liquidity crisis may remain stubborn for NBFCs at the present moment.
Get more interesting about Current Liquidity Crisis and M&A, by applying for an Investment Banking Courses
The Trade War Between the USA and China and Impact on India
The year 2019 saw the Indian economy overcome short term setbacks like the GST and demonetization to emerge with an uptick 0f 7.5% in its growth rate. The Indian rupee also emerged as the strongest in Asian markets adding cheer and optimism among investors, general public and stock markets. The tariffs imposed by the USA on China and the escalated tension between the two countries is, however, causing much concern especially with reference to the impact on the Indian economy and the trade-war that augurs poorly for global relationships and economies.
To be able to wisely analyze, plan and offset the effects of such a full-blown war in trading it is essential to understand the factors underlying the present situation.
The reasons:
Towards the beginning of the year, President Donald Trump of USA submitted China to allegations of trade practices that were unfair and claimed violations of intellectual property norms. This was followed by duty and tax impositions of 10% on aluminium and 25% on steel from all countries with the exemption of Mexico and Canada. The US being a huge Chinese goods consumer the imposition of such duties caused deterioration in relationships and impacted the Asian markets too.
An estimated one-sixth of the total 635 US $ business faced such tariffs. However round one did not cause the bells to toll. Again in round-two, Trump imposed 200 billion US $ tariffs on exports from China. This measure was seen as stoking the escalating fire between the two economic giants and places them on the rim of a huge trade war chasm.
In India, the tremors of the escalation of a trade-war were felt in the economic dynamics. This is so because a shortage of raw material or products means a price escalation for the final consumer. The tariffs and tax increase also ups the prices for them.
Effects on the Indian Economy:
Here are some of the predictable outfalls for the Indian economy.
The rupee value falls:
India does get affected by the worsening relationships and trade war escalations between two giants of the USA and China. Trump in late June went ahead with round two impositions of tariffs. In Indian markets, this negatively affected the trade deficit, and the rupee plummeted to an all-time low against the US dollar.
The stock indices decline:
The key parameters namely the Sensex and Nifty declined due to the caution of the investors in trading and withdrawal of foreign investors funds from trading. Both the BSE and NSE indices saw regular downward plunges fearing a trade war between the two mights of China and USA.
The imposition of duties:
In response to the imposed duty and tariffs on steel and aluminium, India owed 241 million US $ in taxes alone. In response and retaliation, India too imposed duties on US imports of 30 goods and products imported by it. The sum total of this exercise was that the US needed to pay 238million US $ to India in a counter move to increased tax debts. The manufacturing industries will see setbacks due to non-availability of materials and higher costs and the end users will suffer.
The requisite plan and strategy:
In the given circumstances the CEOs of Indian industries have to work hard to keep the economy stable and growing. The possible trade war if it happens will temporarily set all Asian countries back. The possibility of restoring a global trading forum would need to be explored by the newly elected government.
The trade war can cause a disturbance in the Asian region’s power equations spawning geopolitical pressures, economic setbacks and stock market crashes. What impacts Asia will also have global effects on all economies and hence will need astute planning and a non-military strategy to counterbalance it.
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