The implementation of four labour codes in one go from April 1 next year will usher in a new wave of reforms in industrial relations and also help in attracting more investments but employment generation will remain a key challenge in 2021. This year has also been a challenging year for the work force as well as for employers due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government imposed a nationwide lockdown from March 25, which had an adverse impact on economic activities and resulted in exodus of migrant workers from large cities to their homes in the hinterland. Many migrant labourers lost their jobs and it took months for them to return back to their work places from their native places.
AAP has promised lower electricity bills, free basic water supply.
The momentous occasion came when the House of Representatives passed the $1.5 trillion (Rs 96 lakh crore) tax reform bill for the second time by 224 to 201 votes to clear the technical snag in the passage of the bill, which was passed by the Senate and House earlier.
As the Centre faces multiple hurdles, BJP-governed states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have swiftly moved in to usher in radical reforms as they aim to take a larger share of the FDI pie.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to send out the message that the ruling BJP, unlike its predecessors at the helm, is not guided by parochial politics in recognising contributions in the public life, as the party looks to break new ground during the polls.
Stocks of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) have more headroom left despite the sharp run in the last few weeks, suggests a recent report from Morgan Stanley. Stocks of these oil refining and marketing companies (OMCs), it believes, are seeing multiples re-rate as investors reassess long-term growth prospects. "IOCL trades at one year forward P/BV of 1.2x, 19 per cent below +1 standard deviation (SD); BPCL trades at one year forward P/BV of 1.5x, near historical averages; HPCL trades at one year forward P/BV of 1.5x, near +1SD," Morgan Stanley said.
The mandate will help further the development agenda in these states, with good governance and policy reforms taking centrestage
They discussed at length India's rapid progress in the space sector, including various space exploration missions being undertaken by India, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met leading American economist Paul Romer, investor and co-founder of hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates Ray Dalio, and other eminent thought leaders and exchanged views with them and briefed them about the reform trajectory of his government to foster economic growth. Prime Minister Modi is in New York on the first leg of his maiden state visit to the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden. Modi and Romer held discussions on India's digital journey, including the use of Aadhaar and innovative tools like Digilocker.
If Mr Modi has to win, he must convince the people of this country how his reforms improved the quality of their lives.
For successive governments the Election Commission remains a 'holy cow', where unhealthy precedents are allowed to be nurtured since Independence, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his engagements in the US on Thursday by meeting with leading American CEOs from five different key sectors and highlighted the economic opportunities in India.
The government had earlier announced the country's highest civilian honour for L K Advani and Karpoori Thakur.
The overall physical presence of life insurance companies in Tier-II and Tier-III cities increased in FY23 compared to a year ago period on account of the higher impetus given to financial inclusion by the government and insurance regulator, as well as recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest data released by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). It is the first time that there has been growth in the number of offices since the financial year 2019-20.
President Xi Jinping on Monday vowed to build China's military into a "Great Wall of steel" to protect its sovereignty and developmental interests as he sought a bigger role for Beijing in global affairs, days after brokering a Saudi Arabia-Iran detente, regarded as a diplomatic coup.
'Investment creates capacity and reduces inflation. Income, employment, and savings rise.'
The gross tax revenues have touched 65 per cent of the Budget estimates at Rs 17.81 lakh crore during the first eight months of the current fiscal till November, propelled by corporate and personal income tax mop-up, according to the Economic Survey 2022-23 presented in Parliament on Tuesday. The survey, authored by Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, said the 'substantial reforms' in India's taxation ecosystem post-2014 and policy reforms have removed the distortionary incentives from the economy. Reforms like GST, reduction in corporate taxes, exemption of sovereign wealth funds and pension funds from taxes, and removing Dividend Distribution tax have reduced the tax burden on individuals and businesses.
Paving the way for the first set of labour reforms in the country, President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to Rajasthan's amendments to three laws.
'The first duty of the government is to learn lessons from a bad experience and course correct. It's a pity that the government is making policy without looking at evidence and differentiating between immediate and urgent.'
Although the special relationship might compel Bhutan to be considerate of Indian interests, new challenges will likely arise. An emerging new phase of relations will also call for fresh redlines between India and Bhutan, observe Harsh V Pant and Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy.
Local businesses are fretting over reform setbacks.
Bhujbal, who has strongly opposed the demand to include the Marathas in the other backward classes category for quota benefits, said a new social system is taking shape in Maharashtra which is different from the order envisaged by prominent social reformers.
Called the US Citizenship Act of 2021, the legislation modernises the immigration system, and also proposes to eliminate the per country cap for employment-based green cards, a move that would benefit thousands of Indian IT professionals whose current wait period for legal permanent residency runs into several decades.
The Bharatiya Janata Party sealed its alliance with the Telugu Desam Party on Saturday for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh assembly elections, with former chief minister of the southern state N Chandrababu Naidu asserting that the combine will sweep the polls.
India will become the world's third largest economy by 2026 as its GDP in current dollar terms will reach $5 trillion in that year and further rise to $5.5 trillion in 2027, former Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya said on Friday. Delivering the 18th C D Deshmukh Memorial Lecture titled 'India at 125: Reclaiming the Lost Glory and Returning the Global Economy to the Old Normal', he said it is unlikely that GDP in current dollar terms of either Germany or Japan will cross $5 trillion-mark in the coming three years. Japan will have to sustain a growth rate of 3.5 per cent in current dollar terms to reach $5.03 trillion in 2027 from its 2022 level of $4.2 trillion, he said.
Veteran banker Vikram Limaye will soon leave BCCI's Committee of Administrators to head the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and that will a big loss to the the already trimmed panel, said COA member Diana Edulji.
'Let us also not expect that there will be a clean break with the past, much though the new government might like to think about it. In a functional democracy that is neither feasible nor desirable. But basic change it must be,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
India along with the G4 nations said it is "unfortunate" that momentum could not build up over the issue in the current session.
'One wishes that today's 'take no prisoners' brand of politics would give way to an understanding of the national interest that is shared by both government and Opposition.'
This is the lowest investment grade rating.
Hailing the decision of the Supreme Court to appoint a two-member committee to oversee reforms in the Cricket Board after the removal of two top BCCI officials, some Olympians and Arjuna Awardees from other disciplines backed ex-cricketers Bishen Bedi and Kirti Azad to undertake the task. "The Hon. Supreme Court has given the onerous responsibility of suggesting names of eminent people who shall comprise a committee to oversee reforms in BCCI and state bodies which have been bedevilled by controversies and malfeasance," they said in a media statement following the apex court's ejection of Anurag Thakur and Ajay Shirke as President and Secretary of the BCCI.
There hasn't been any dramatic moment in the first act (the Budget) but nobody would complain. It's par for the course as long as the figures don't change in the main Budget, which will be presented after general elections.
Vasundhara Raje may have had her faults but she is an unconventional and brave leader who deserves better, observes Aditi Phadnis.
In its essence, GST is a national level system of value added taxation of goods and services, says Shankar Acharya.
Entry of a higher number of technocrats, an appraisal system for civil servants and the benefits of changing the financial year may feature in the PM's fourth speech.
'The one sector where there is still a sense of crisis is banking, but the government has regrettably set its face against privatising any of the government-owned banks,' says T N Ninan.
Pradhan, who is also the skill development minister, said he has received positive feedback from students on the plan to conduct board exams twice a year.
The only reform that has been adopted was 'handbook for Disabled cricketers' which BCCI has released, which is point No. 8 as per first timeline.
