Only 80.6 per cent of the Rs 6-trillion allocation has been spent by February, data from the Controller General of Accounts shows.
In a major relief to Indian information technology (IT) companies operating in Australia, Canberra has agreed to amend its domestic laws to stop taxing offshore income of such Indian companies, as part of the free trade deal inked. This may lead to savings up to $200 million each year for over 100 Indian IT companies operating in Australia. "The Government of Australia has agreed to amend the domestic taxation law to stop the taxation of offshore income of Indian firms providing technical services to Australia. "This will resolve the issue that the Indian government has raised about the double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) between the two governments for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income," said a commerce ministry official.
Move over 3D, 4D and 5D. Cinema is now eyeing the metaverse experience. On February 15, Bollywood producer Vashu Bhagnani's production company, Pooja Entertainment, forayed into the metaverse and bought its first piece of virtual land. The space, called Poojaverse, will be a virtual area where the company will create an immersive experience for moviegoers, starting with BadeMiyan ChoteMiyan, starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff. Promotional events for the film, slated for release on Christmas 2023, will be held in the metaverse, says the company. The metaverse might still be in its infancy, but producers like Deepshikha Deshmukh say, "The ecosystem will only grow from here. "Metaverse will soon be the go-to place for everything virtual related to films."
India's exports are unlikely to get an immediate boost from a depreciating rupee, which touched an all-time low on Monday, driven by rising commodity prices. The rupee fell to 76.97 against the dollar earlier in the day, settling 1.05 per cent weaker than the previous close. Oil prices soared to their highest since 2008 on Monday at $139 per barrel, after the US and European allies explored a Russian oil import ban, while delays in the potential return of Iranian crude oil to global markets increased supply fears.
The apparel and engineering sectors have already witnessed the trend in the past one week. If this continues, it can have an impact on the overall export demand in the coming months, considering that Europe is the largest national export market for India.
The government may soon give the green light to bilateral trade between Russia and India in their national currencies to avoid any trade disruptions, multiple people aware of the matter said. While the Department of Commerce has recommended the proposal, an announcement is likely to be made by the finance ministry after further deliberations between the Department of Economic Affairs and Department of Financial Services. "The finance ministry will take a call on how to peg the two currencies," a senior government official told Business Standard. In the past, the two nations have had rupee-rouble trade, and when such an arrangement is implemented again, it will bypass the sanctions imposed on Russia by the West.
Recently, South Korean Foreign Minister, Chung Eui-yong, dialled his Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar, in New Delhi. His government, he said, "regretted the offence caused to the people of India". A day earlier, India had summoned the South Korean ambassador to express its "strong displeasure" over "an unacceptable social media post".
Fitch Ratings on Monday cautioned that the Indian government has little fiscal headroom at its disposal to respond to possible shocks to growth given the country's lowest investment grade credit rating with a negative outlook. "India's public debt/GDP ratio, at about 87 per cent in FY21, is well above the median of around 60% for 'BBB' rated sovereigns. "We revised the Outlook on India's rating to Negative, from Stable, in June 2020, partly owing to our assumptions about the impact of the pandemic on public finance metrics. "The government has little fiscal headroom at its current rating level to respond to possible shocks to growth," it said in a report.
'All they need is proper leadership.'
'The robust tax collections give the finance minister a fair amount of headroom for an expansionary fiscal policy.'
Immunity boosting foods and drinks. Sustainable fashion. Beauty products with natural ingredients. There was always a market for these, and the pandemic has only made it bigger. Within beauty, brands have recorded a greater demand for ayurveda products.
India and China have mostly set aside their bilateral differences in order to champion the cause of developing countries at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). That seems to be changing. During the latest round of China's trade policy review, India questioned its northern neighbour's claim that it was a developing country, since, going by the World Bank's definition, its per capita income belongs to that of an upper middle income country. "As per the per capita income level, the Chinese economy belongs to 'upper-middle income'. "How can China still claim to be a developing country? "What are the indicators which China is using to claim such a status?" India asked.
With a budget of Rs 60 crore, Business Blasters, which is part of the Delhi government's Entrepreneurship Mindset curriculum, aims to nurture entrepreneurial skills among students, including taking calculated risks and bouncing back from failure.
The world economy has slipped into a state of stagflation, says Reddy.
In an earlier analysis for the period till April 26, it had been found that of the 365 items in the WPI, the index for as many as 166 items had not been revised for more than four months. The latest analysis as of June 21 shows that the index for around 55 of these 166 items has been revised. In effect, only one-third of the items have seen an index revision. During this period, headline inflation has moved from 8.27 per cent to 11.63 per cent.
The move aimed at blunting Finance Ministry, RBI's opposition to monthly reporting.
The average number of workers a business unit employs is declining for both urban and rural areas.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board, the nodal body for approving foreign direct investment in the country, has given its nod to a proposal from Germany-based Deutsche Bank to buy a 5 per cent stake in the Delhi Stock Exchange.
The panel has also decided to increase the weight of manufactured items and the fuel group in the new index. Accordingly, the new WPI series, with a revised base year of 2004-05, will see the weight of manufactured items go up to around 65 per cent from 63.75 per cent in the present series.