The per capita income of Indians as gleaned from income-tax filing is expected to increase from Rs 2 lakh in FY23 to Rs 14.9 lakh in FY47, coinciding with 100 years of the country's Independence, according to SBI Research. In dollar terms it will increase from about $2,500 in FY23 to $12,400 in FY47. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic adviser, State Bank of India, said the weighted mean income was Rs 4.4 lakh in AY14. That rose to Rs 13 lakh in FY23.
Following are comments from economists at leading financial institutions, banks and rating agencies on the interim Budget:
The middle class is a big force to fulfil dreams of a prosperous and developed India and our government has taken many decisions to empower it, the prime minister said.
Manjummel Boys is a largely conventional, commercial movie. But given the rather curvy observations that do stay intact in the film, Rohit Sathish is tempted to think what an even braver, more ambitious film would have done.
If Modi wants to leave a real legacy, breaking India's strategic triangulation would be the real gift, notes Shekhar Gupta.
In an interview with Rediff.com, Transparency International explains how the organisation collates its information, assigns ranks to various nations and tries to battle global corruption.
Amazon Prime Video has announced a huge number of assorted Web series and movies, and the slate sure looks interesting.
The assembly elections will not be a big help for the Congress in New Delhi because even if it wins impressively, it will still be considered a local win with the help of local issues. It will not help the Congress find an apt response to the question of corruption at the national level, says Sheela Bhatt
...Is a cultural swaraj under way, wonders Ajit Balakrishnan.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced a Rs 11.11 lakh crore spending on infrastructure and vowed to continue reforms as she resisted resorting to populist measures in Modi government's last Budget before general elections, instead choosing to stay on the path of cutting deficit while bolstering measures for focus groups.
As the Indian version of The Archies gets ready to hit OTT, Deepa Gahlot picks 10 interesting college-and-youth-oriented shows on OTT.
From the trifecta of demography, democracy and diversity to the three ills of corruption, nepotism and appeasement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech on Tuesday used several catchy phrases to drive home his government's achievements, his vision for the future and criticism of the opposition.
Thriller, horror, feel-good, rom-com, action, vendetta, biopics -- you name it, you got it on OTT this week.
At this year's TIME ball in New York City on Thursday, April 25, you would have run into a Coimbatore-born American scientist, looking lovely in Sabyasachi Mukherjee designer finery, who would most likely have been hanging out with Dua Lipa.
Catch J Baby in theatres, and if you want to watch more touching Tamil stories on the dysfunctional family, Arjun Menon lists where you can find them on OTT.
'His image may have gone down a little because he is talking about poverty and underdeveloped states. That is not the way to sell yourself nationally,' Bihar's best known economist and social scientist Dr Shaibal Gupta tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
Indian economy, dubbed the fastest growing major economy in the world, is faced with the single most important pressure point of job creation, says former RBI Governor Raghuram G Ranjan as he makes a strong case for improvement of human capital through skill development. Talking about the book 'Breaking the mould: Reimagining India's economic future', written jointly by him and Rohit Lamba, assistant professor of economics at Pennsylvania State University, Rajan said one of the greatest strength of India is its human capital of 1.4 billion and the question is "how do you make it strong?" The nation needs to create jobs at every level going along the path of development, said Rajan, presently Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Chicago Booth, USA.
Indications are that the DMK combine will win more seats than the AIADMK and BJP, but is facing a tough fight in about half a dozen from the rest, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy of the electoral contest in Tamil Nadu.
So how do you rate the Modi government's 11th budget?
Thousands of movie buffs remember the double deckers of Mumbai, associating them with stars and blockbuster songs of yesteryear, recalls Debarghya Sanyal.
They all seem to forget that the Music Academy is as much an independent institution as T M Krishna is an individual musician. In drawing those red lines for the Academy management, they do not even seem to recognise that they too have crossed a red line themselves, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'His time had not come, he went away before his time was up.'
You'll wish weekends lasted as long as weeks after looking at Sukanya Verma's long, long list of recommendations on OTT this week.
It is bad news on the wages front in the wake of global economic meltdown. An International Labour Organisation study says the global economic crisis is expected to lead to 'painful cuts' in the wages of millions of workers worldwide in the coming year.
Aseem Chhabra lists his favorite 2023 films -- a healthy blend of Bollywood, Hindi indies and some of the best work that is being done in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Bengali cinema.
Emotions welled up inside Saurashish Lahiri when Akash Deep, the latest Bengal speed merchant to enter Indian dressing room, rang him up.
'When my father travelled 5,000 miles to build a new home in Ireland, I doubt he ever dreamed that his son would one day grow up to become its leader.' Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com profiles Dr Leo Varadkar who will step down as Ireland's taoiseach (prime minister) next week.
It is a pity that he does not take his youth influencer role more seriously and align his brand endorsements more responsibly, notes Kanika Datta.
India, the world's fifth largest economy in the world, is likely to overtake Japan to become the world's third-largest economy with a GDP of $7.3 trillion by 2030, S&P Global Market Intelligence said in its latest issue of PMI. After two years of rapid economic growth in 2021 and 2022, the Indian economy has continued to show sustained strong growth during the 2023 calendar year. India's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 6.2-6.3 per cent in the fiscal year ending in March 2024, being the fastest-growing major economy this fiscal year.
'The focus needs to shift towards the ability to collect payments, particularly in tier-3 to tier-4 areas where acceptance is still lacking.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the government has made the new income tax regime more attractive for taxpayers and has thus brought about 'substantial changes' in its structure for the benefit of the middle class. The Budget 2023-24 has proposed changes in the optional tax regime, which was introduced in 2020-21. Speaking to reporters after presentation of the Budget, Sitharaman said the country has been waiting for a direct tax regime which is simplified and easy in compliance.
The BJP's challenge is whether it can again deflate a Congress, which now looks reinvigorated and has adopted sharper messaging around its 'guarantees', and several regional parties, especially in Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
The amazing excuses given by people who don't invest their money abound, but you would be wise to ignore them. Excuses won't help you get ahead; they can only hold you back from the retirement you deserve, says financial planning advisor P V Subramanyam
Foreign policy is always a work in progress and ups and downs are built into foreign policy process. What is permanent is national interest. Hopefully, this year, which will also witness general elections in the country, will also clear clouds in the foreign policy horizon, observes Rup Narayan Das.
P V Subramanyam takes a hard look at the pros and cons of both options.
Tirthak Saha is living the American dream, but his work has a typically Indian context.
'But he was very quick and did a very stylish adab.' 'Of course, I didn't expect him to hug.'
'While the Budget would be growth-friendly, it would not come at the expense of an increase in the fiscal deficit.'
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