Various indicators make it amply clear that there are grave challenges facing the new government of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, reports Indivjal Dhasmana.
'The top 11 billionaires in India added so much to their wealth during the pandemic that it would have sustained MNREGA for 10 years or the ministry of health for 10 years.'
Many Japanese and medical experts oppose staging the 2020 Games as planned from July 23, after already being postponed a year, as their nation suffers a fourth infection wave.
Half of the world's youth population are subject to anxiety or depression-causing circumstances, discovers ILO survey.
It's not only the developed world that is seeing huge job losses on account of the ongoing economic slowdown. Back home, Maharashtra has reported around 150,000 job losses over the last few months.state Labour Minister Nawab Malik said 150,000 fewer jobs were available in the unorganised sector in the state this year compared with the previous year. The worst-hit sectors, he said, were automobile ancillary, engineering and construction.
Passenger vehicle market leaders Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai on Saturday reported a decline in wholesales in December 2021, although homegrown majors Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra reported growth, amid semiconductor shortage continuing to impact production. Other manufacturers Nissan and Skoda also reported an increase in December 2021 sales although Honda Cars India witnessed a decline last month. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) reported a 4 per cent fall in wholesales to 153,149 units in December 2021 as against 160,226 units a year ago.
Amid the low stock position at the electricity generating plants, state-owned CIL has asked its subsidiaries to refrain from conducting any further e-auction of coal, except special forward e-auction for the power sector, till the situation stabilises. The development assumes significance as the supply of coal is being prioritised to the power sector to replenish the dwindling stock in the wake of reports of an electricity crisis looming large. "In view of the current low stock position at the powerhouse end, supply of coal is being prioritised to the power sector to replenish the dwindling stock...coal companies are advised to refrain from conducting of any further e-auctions of coal with the exception of special forward e-auction for the power sector, till the situation stabilises," Coal India said in a recent letter to its arms, including Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL).
Consumer anxiety is at the highest levels since the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic in India with the less affluent most skeptical about economic outlook while a majority of consumers think their income in the next six months will be lower than the pre-COVID levels, says a latest study. As per the COVID-19 consumer sentiment research by global management consulting firm Boston Consulting group (BCG) conducted between May 23 and May 28, 2021, covering around 4,000 respondents across metros, tier I, II, III, IV and rural India, 51 per cent of consumers expected their spends over the next six months to be lower. In the last round of survey conducted from July 20 to August 2, 2020, the figure stood at 40 per cent.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday slammed the government over the rising price of domestic cooking gas, diesel and petrol, and alleged that an amount of Rs 23 lakh crore has been earned by increasing prices of these commodities in the last seven years.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is a silly scary movie that knows it is a silly scary movie, observes Sukanya Verma.
As vice president and ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankar is inheriting a troubled legacy. Although the government faces no real numerical challenges in the Upper House, political and legal challenges are there aplenty.
Amit Shah's net worth grew 32 per cent to Rs 37.91 crore, mainly due to 80 per cent appreciation in the market value of his securities.
Terming the 23.9 per cent fall in economic growth in the June quarter alarming, former Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan has said bureaucracy should come out of complacency and take meaningful action. The current crisis requires a more thoughtful and active government, he said, adding, "Unfortunately, after an initial burst of activity, it seems to have retreated into a shell."
Among the sectors, the survey has projected IT, pharma and life sciences, and ITeS among those looking to effect the highest increase in salaries.
Federer, Nadal and Djokovic had made it near impossible for their peers to live, and thrive, amongst them. But the coming generation, which hasn't been as scarred by defeat at the hands of the Big 3, may make tennis unpredictable again.
Financial wealth in India grew 11 per cent to $3.4 trillion in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic, a global consultancy estimated on Tuesday. The 11 per cent growth in financial wealth was at par with the compounded annual growth rate for the five years to 2020, the report by BCG said. Financial wealth is defined as the total wealth excluding real assets and liabilities held by adult individuals.
BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar distanced his party from Rane's view. "The situation in Maharashtra is grim, but it does not qualify for President's rule. We feel the state government is not serious enough about tackling the situation," the former state minister said.
Notwithstanding how the current impasse is solved, at some point in the future, Russia will realise that just as centuries ago it developed the paradigm of securing its heartland's safety through annexing vast buffer zones between itself and the enemy, a more modern security is possible only through friendly relations and sustainable peace, observes Shyam G Menon.
The Indian Medical Association states that cases are likely to rise further before coming down in Kerala as about 50 per cent of its population is still susceptible to the virus.
India has gone through this exercise twice, and here's what happened then.
The ministry of health and family welfare spent Rs 3,948 crore in May this year compared to Rs 7,816 crore in the corresponding month of the previous year. On the other hand, at Rs 12,930 crore, the expenditure had risen almost 200 per cent in April against Rs 4,327 crore in the corresponding month of 2019-20.
Buoyed by an increase in public investment and incentives to boost manufacturing, India's economy is expected to grow by 8.3 per cent in the fiscal year 2021-22, less than the previous projection early this year before the country was hit by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Bank has said in its latest report. World Bank chief economist for the South Asia Region Hans Timmer told PTI here that when one looks at the high frequency data, they see that as a result of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the recovery paused, and some indicate that the recovery actually declined briefly. "We project for this fiscal year 8.3 per cent (growth rate for Indian economy) that is less than we projected early in the year before the health crisis caused by the second wave. "Given the sharp contraction of the economy last year, it might not look like a lot, but in my view, that is actually very positive news, given the violent second wave and the severity of the health crisis," he said on Thursday.
Severe sluggishness in demand in Europe hit India's merchandise exports, which fell for the third consecutive month this financial year. Compared with $26.3 billion in the corresponding period last year, exports fell 14.8 per cent to $22.4 billion in July. This was the steepest fall in 35 months (exports had declined 23.59 per cent in August 2009).
From the enactment of the capital control Act to the recognition of the BSE as a stock exchange and the infamous Harshad Mehta scam, here are the 18 biggest events for stock markets from 1947 to 1993.
The finance minister could well be on her way to setting a record of achieving the biggest single-year reduction in the government's fiscal deficit, explains A K Bhattacharya.
'RBI is already late in addressing inflation pressures.'
Indians are the most optimistic in Asia Pacific region about job and pay rise prospects in 2021, job site 'Indeed' said on Monday, citing its global study. Indian workers (56 per cent) are more than twice as positive about their chances of getting a pay rise next year compared to their counterparts in Australia (20 per cent) and Singapore (23 per cent). Over one in three Indian workers are very optimistic about their career prospects in 2021, the highest in all countries surveyed, it said.
The government will press ahead with the sale of public sector companies that have been approved by the Cabinet, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday. Highlighting that FDI flow into India is much higher compared to other emerging economies, she said India's strong macroeconomic fundamentals, ability to do reforms and a stable government help attract long-term foreign funds into Indian businesses.
While banks are not as exposed as the corporate sector during the initial stage of the pandemic, the strain on lenders could ultimately be profound. Banks face a second-order hit compared with the corporate and household sectors.
To meet the revised estimates for 2019-20, the central government will have to garner Rs 5.03 trillion in total revenues in March, which has seen the worst phase of the coronavirus pandemic so far and the resultant lockdown.
The Congress may stand a better chance in the assembly polls if it followed the 'Himachal model', suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
'This is a historical moment in the political history of Sri Lanka.' 'You can see the amount of pressure that is coming from the people because nobody addressed the policy blunders, multiple corruption charges and huge scandals.'
Australia's unprecedented home Test series defeat to India in served as a "wake-up call" for Justin Langer, who reckons the series will prove as the defining moment of his coaching career. Langer was appointed as the Australian coach in May 2018, following the infamous ball tampering scandal that saw skipper Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner slapped with year long bans.
Colombo seems to be veering to the middle path between China and the US on global matters, but in regional matters of strategic security, it is increasingly identifying with India, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Modi government has to embrace the history of Tamil conquests in South East Asia and stop obsessing about Babar/Humayun, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
His remarks assume significance at a time when a large number of Indian students, many of them studying medicine, have been stuck in Ukraine following the Russian attack on that country.
The government clarified that the majority of industrial establishments had reported nil production, and cautioned that the numbers should not be compared with those of previous months. "It is not appropriate to compare the IIP of April 2020 with that of earlier months, and users may like to observe the changes in the IIP in the following months," said the ministry of statistics & programme implementation.
In view of the unprecedented and peculiar circumstances under which vaccination drive is devised as an executive policy, the "wisdom of the executive should be trusted", it said.
Both the Asian giants were among the top three countries spending more on armaments, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
'We need to see more Indian Americans and people of colour hold elected office and serve in executive roles.'
