If 2019-20 (FY20) was an unusual year for highway construction in India, with the pace of work slowing down for the first time since the Narendra Modi government assumed power in 2014, largely due to the general elections in May and liquidity crunch, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-21 (FY21) only made matters worse with lockdowns and labour unavailability. The pace of highway construction in 2021-22 (FY22) has not been able to bulldoze the pandemic barriers in a year marred by two Covid-19 waves - the second at the start of the fiscal year, the third towards the close. With localised lockdowns and restrictions on mobility, highway construction growth in the country has now fallen to a five-year low.
IT and ITeS companies accounted for $28.1 billion of the total investment pie during the first nine months of 2021.
Maruti was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 6 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Infosys, UltraTech Cement, PowerGrid and NTPC. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, SBI, ITC and HDFC were the laggards.
Re-rating of Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Container Corporation, Shipping Corporation, SAIL, and Hindustan Copper, for which the government has already shown intent to divest its stake, possible now, say analysts.
Shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hit a new high of Rs 4,512 after surging 8 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday's intra-day trade, on the back of heavy volumes, ahead of 1:5 stock split. The trading volumes on the counter more-than-doubled today, with a combined 7.02 million equity shares having changed hands on the NSE and BSE till 11:19 am. In the past one week, the stock of the state-owned travel support services company has rallied 20 per cent after the company on September 29, 2021, said that it has fixed October 29, 2021 as the record date, to ascertain the name of shareholders entitled for subdivision/split of equity shares of Rs 10 each into five (5) equity shares of face value of Rs 2 each.
It was one of the toughest times in history to announce a budget, says Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG Enterprises.
Sources in the AINRC told PTI that the BJP insisted on the induction of its representative as deputy chief minister and also wanted two more posts of ministers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Indian team for winning the Junior Hockey World Cup, saying it augurs well for the future of Indian hockey.
With the next review of the flexible inflation target (FIT) framework coming up soon, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said the current inflation target of 4 per cent with a +/-2 per cent tolerance band is appropriate for the next five years. The country adopted the FIT framework in 2016, and the next review of the inflation target is due before March 31, 2021. "The current numerical framework for defining price stability, i.e., an inflation target of 4 per cent with a +/-2 per cent tolerance band, is appropriate for the next five years," the RBI said in the Report on Currency and Finance (RCF) for the year 2020-21.
'We never go overboard on any stock, no matter how good it may seem.'
Droupadi Murmu scripted history on Thursday by becoming India's first tribal President in the one-sided contest, defeating Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha.
HCL Tech was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 5 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Infosys, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, L&T and Nestle India. NSE Nifty climbed 137.90 points or 1.03 per cent to 13,466.30.
Addressing BJP workers at the party headquarters, Modi also referred to the next Lok Sabha polls, scheduled for 2024, saying he hopes that political pundits will note that his party's win in the four states has also made clear the verdict for the next general election as they had linked its win in 2019 to its sweep of the Uttar Pradesh elections in 2017.
Not only Yash Dhull's batting but his captaincy is also being appreciated as he is on the verge of emulating the likes of Mohammed Kaif, Virat Kohli, Unmukt Chand and Prithvi Shaw in leading India to the Under-19 World Cup title.
Maintaining a rapid pace of the vaccination drive and quickly bridging healthcare infrastructure gaps across both urban and rural areas would emerge as the most sustainable stimulus for durable recovery of the Indian economy, says a report by the department of economic affairs.
The detailed three-page advisory of the Union Home Ministry came days after the alleged gangrape and murder of a woman at Hathras in Uttar Pradesh sparked nationwide outrage.
'I think it's a very healthy trend. It's an embarrassment of riches.'
The film will releases both in theatres and digitally, reveals Subhash K Jha.
Pritam Kotal said inspired by the fitness and diet regime of Virat Kohli, he has become health conscious of late.
Taking to Twitter, Jothimani said, 'Today I wrote to Hon Minister for AYUSH @shripadynaik regarding the insult meted out to our Tamil Nadu doctors by the AYUSH Secy for not knowing Hindi.'
Brinkmanship in the Taiwan Strait will not only be a recipe for disaster to both China and Taiwan, but also to international peace and stability, warns Rup Narayan Das.
The share of public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the total market capitalisation of listed companies--at an all-time low of 10 per cent currently --- may get a leg-up from the government's divestment push. Recently the government announced the successful sale of national carrier Air India to Tata Sons, India's first privatisation of a PSU since 2002-03. The transaction is expected to be completed by December.
Some commentators said Gandhi's decision will augur well for a party that needs to reinvent itself and present a clear vision to again emerge as a credible alternative.
A normal monsoon will augur well for the country's agriculture sector and boost crop yields. However, good rains - and surplus crops - could also depress prices, hurting farm income, unless adequate steps are taken.
Stocks of public sector companies, especially the oil refining and marketing companies (OMCs) - Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) - logged gains on Tuesday in a weak market. While the Nifty lost nearly 1 per cent in trade on Tuesday, the Nifty CPSE index - a gauge of performance of central public sector enterprises on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) - gained over 3 per cent in intra-day trade. The rally in PSU stocks comes on the back of the BPCL chairman, Arun Kumar Singh suggesting in the company's annual general meeting (AGM) on Monday that the government intends to complete the divestment process in the OMC by March 2022.
'They don't want anybody to stand up and support the vulnerable sections of society who may be targeted.'
As Indians start travelling in the new normal, strong recovery in smaller towns underscores success for ride-hailing giant's 'India to Bharat' strategy, which offers new products in regional markets.
This should augur well for the rabi crops as delayed withdrawal will leave enough moisture in the soil for early sowing.
Gavaskar also wants Kohli to continue batting as an opener as the team needs their best batsman 'to bat as many overs' as he can.
Wriddhiman Saha's superior glovework may be given preference over Rishabh Pant's blazing blade in India's opening day-night Test against Australia, starting at the Adelaide Oval from Thursday.
"The season averaged maximum temperatures in Himachal Pradesh, West Rajasthan, Konkan, Goa, Coastal Karnataka, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh are likely to be higher than normal by 0.5-1.0 degree Celsius," the Met department has said in its forecast.
Monsoon in August was almost 24 per cent below normal, which was the sixth driest August since 1901. It came on the back of a 7-per cent monsoon shortfall in July.
The Motera track may have received a lot of flak after the pink ball Test ended inside two days but it is unlikely to attract any severe sanctions from the game's governing body ICC with the pitch for the final game set to be a batting beauty.
In a virtual conference from Moscow, Dmitriev said Sputnik V is not only 'one of the most effective' but also among the 'affordable' vaccines in the world.
Who knows, the moment of truth in Ladakh may also augur for a giant leap toward boundary settlement with China in the fulness of time. The news that the special representatives of the two countries are planning to meet gives a positive signal, suggests Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'She has just one objective. To win the next election. Nothing else matters.'
India's skipper Virat Kohli says he's going to open the innings in the IPL, so why not with Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in India later this year.
The news will augur well for the country as large parts have been witnessing agriculture distress and water levels in reservoirs in west and south India have dipped to low levels.
'Increased allocations for MNREGA could have provided the much needed push to rural demand and consumption at a time when recovery continues to remain uneven.'
Economic performance is affected if large numbers of people are out of work, or at such low levels of income as to force under-consumption, observes T N Ninan.
