'The stimulus message was tagged on to what was meant to be an exhortation to self-reliance, glossing over the near impossibility of merging the immediate requirement of relief for a huge population and a questionable strategy for the future trajectory of a large economy aspiring to superstardom,' points out Shreekant Sambrani.
Niti Aayog's plan to create a 'New India' in less than four years should invite scepticism, argues T N Ninan.
Ajit Balakrishnan envisions a flag to capture the spirit of the impending conflicts of the Information Age.
In the second of a six-part series, Sanjay Jog of Business Standard walks across the streets of Indore to find out how it has been hit by demonetisation.
New age technology will reshape India's future.
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the nation on the eve of 72nd Republic Day.
The top court did some tough-talking and had warned that the administration at large will be made accountable even if there is a single incident of stubble burning henceforth.
Jitan Ram Manjhi went ahead with proposing dissolution of the assembly
Drought hit Bihar plans to increase the number of days of work from 100 to 150 under the rural job scheme to check migration of the poorest of poor in search of livelihood by providing employment opportunity locally.
About 45 per cent of those who are part of the workforce, or about 207 million, are estimated to be engaged in agriculture and many of them will be outside the income-tax net and hence may not need a PAN. So, what does allotting PAN to 369 million individuals actually mean, wonders A K Bhattacharya.
'As an aspirational district, one of the main challenges is health and nutrition of the tribal community.' 'They are 1.5 lakhs to 1.6 lakhs tribals in this district.' 'The major issue among tribals is malnutrition and anaemia.'
While the number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 6,039, as many as 515 people have been cured and discharged, and one had migrated, it said. The total number of cases include 71 foreign nationals.
'Once we are past this electoral season, during which all promises are presented as free lunches, could we bring such non-populist issues into focus?' 'Like fixing the problems of the public sector?' points out T N Ninan.
Boost to dairy sector will generate jobs
The new candidates fielded from these constituencies by the BJP are: SP Singh Baghel (Agra), Parameshwar Lal Saini (Sambhal), Raj Kumar Chaher (Fatehpur Sikri), Jai Prakash Rawat (Hardoi-SC), Ashok Rawat (Misrikh-SC) and Arun Sagar (Shahjahanpur-SC).
Prime Minister Modi took over power in mid-May with high expectations that it would strengthen India's fragile macro economy and faltering investment and growth.
As Bollywood star Salman Khan walked free in the 2002 hit-and-run case, one of those injured in the accident caused by his SUV said he is yet to get "justice and compensation" for which he has waited for 13 long years.
'They want (the ownership and management of PSU banks) to pass into the hands of a private sector entity.' 'Ownership of these banks will go from the public sector to private sector.'
The panel will also recommend a fiscal consolidation road map for the central and state governments, study the impact of GST on the divisible pool, and propose performance-based incentives for states.
Modi may take satisfaction from his display of considerable political skill in managing a mercurial, temperamental and unpredictable US president and nudging him into uncharacteristic restraint and even carefully orchestrated remarks. This personal chemistry will come in handy if Trump returns as president in the November elections, says former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
'If we don't want to be the poorest large economy even in 2030, we need to be doing very much more than is being attempted.'
Beyond the macro data, there has been little enquiry into the profile of the indebted farmer households, says Shailesh Dobhal.
'Over 50 crore Indians are currently suffering from a livelihood crisis, something to which the whole country had shut its eyes to for the past six months.' 'We woke up only after the IPL was affected.'
'In the final analysis, all Budgets everywhere are like the schemes hatched by A A Milne's lovable Winnie-the-Pooh.' 'They may be well-intended, but often go awry.' 'Although Pooh and his friends agree that he 'has very little brain', he is occasionally acknowledged to have a clever idea, usually driven by common sense.' 'This Budget at a first glance does not appear to belong to that latter category,' says economist Shreekant Sambrani.
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The best way to put the economy back on track is to abolish income and corporate taxes, as this will not only raise confidence but also increase savings and boost growth, the Bharatiya Janata Party's Subramanian Swamy tells Faisal Kidwai.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assets worth Rs 1.26 crore while Defence and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stands out as the richest minister with assets totalling Rs 72.10 crore.
'These people are living on the edge of starvation and governments need to show much greater compassion towards them.'
Investors are sceptical that the economy could have picked up so much steam.
Rajan, who has also served as chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said he had no idea what statistics are pointing at currently and "a revamp" was needed "to really figure out what India's true growth rate is".
But it scores high on firm dynamics - which is partly accidental, as it benefits from high labour turnover.
Of the first 189 whose credentials have been probed from the 400 applicants till date, barely 30 make it - and only one qualifies for IPR benefits.
The BJP government is no better than the Congress -- as wretched and anti-people. In addition, it is explicitly and aggressively communal, says Venkatesh B Athreya, in a hard-hitting interview to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com.
We present our alphabet of 2020, pulling in everything you'll remember about this year we'd rather forget.
Rangarajan said that growth has many dimensions to it.
The BJP still does not have a majority in Upper House of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, and this will pose hurdles to the party's legislative reform agenda
'The problem lies in the popular perception that the Marathas are a rich, politically powerful and dominant caste in the state... The truth is different. The tragedy of this community is that only 137 Maratha families are the dominant players in state politics. The disparity is so wide, that the rest of the Maratha community isn't even half as rich, forget being powerful,' says N Suresh.
'Only the smoke is coming out now. Let us prevent the lava from coming out by taking proper measures.' 'I have told every leader that you cannot have a stable government without winning the confidence of the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and the most backward castes.' 'Leaders feel that by giving a sop here and there and by symbolic actions, they can win votes. That's all they want. Votes.'
BMS, BKS and SJM are trying to forge common cause with outfits on the other side of the ideological divide over the government's policies they are not in agreement with.
In the third reshuffle since coming to power, Prime Minister Modi raised the strength of his Council of Ministers from 73 to 76.
A fresh global skill gap study shows how India can tap opportunities in Germany, New Zealand, Qatar, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE and the UK.
