In 2019, out of the 1,440 minutes in a day, Indian youth spent 148 minutes on employment-related activities, which increased to 158 minutes in 2024.
A fresh survey to identify a minimum of eight million new beneficiaries of the flagship rural housing scheme, in addition to the 12 million already identified, will use the latest face-recognition tools to minimise gaps, a senior official said on Tuesday. The survey, which has already started across the country for building the fresh 20 million new rural houses over the next five years, can also be done by the beneficiary himself/herself as well through the Awaassoft mobile application specially created for this purpose.
The Indian rupee depreciated a modest 2.9 per cent in the first nine months of the current fiscal, performing better than other currencies like the Canadian Dollar, South Korean Won and the Brazilian Real, according to the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on Friday. The value of the Indian Rupee (INR) is market-determined, with no target or specific level or band.
'When you compare Bihar's poverty from its earlier times, then there is a huge difference. Things have improved a lot. And migration has played an important role in reducing poverty.'
Foreign direct investment into the country is expected to rebound in the coming months on account of India's high economic growth, and steps to further improve the business environment of India, the Economic Survey said on Tuesday. The rise in global uncertainty in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, FDI equity inflows in the manufacturing sector in the first half of the current fiscal (April-September) fell below its corresponding level in the first half of 2021-22, the document, which was tabled in Parliament, said. The monetary tightening at the global level has further restricted the FDI equity inflows, the survey said.
'It takes time and the experience of a few market cycles to develop awareness about one's true risk appetite.'
Women are increasingly using gig work as a pathway to economic independence which has no entry barrier, especially as an alternative to traditional jobs.
Eight of the top 10 employers showed a double-digit growth in fixed capital. Only one out of 10 showed a double-digit addition in employment.
India has already become the world's fifth largest economy in the 75th year of Independence and will reach the $3.5 trillion mark by end-March, said the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. In real terms, the economy is expected to grow at 7 per cent for the year ending March 2023. This follows an 8.7 per cent growth in the previous financial year.
The average Indian worker must labour for an extraordinary 160 full working days to afford Apple's latest iPhone 17 Pro.
'Women weavers are hardworking, open to learning, resilient.' 'They finish their cooking, housework, puja, then they come to weave.' 'They care about design. They care about beauty.'
A court in Bareilly has summoned Congress MP and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to appear before it on January 7 for his remarks related to the Economic Survey during the Lok Sabha polls.
The President will address both the Houses of Parliament assembled together in the Lok Sabha chamber on Friday and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the General Budget on Saturday.
The farm sector has been resilient to the COVID-19 shock and is estimated to grow at 3.9 per cent this fiscal, the Economic Survey said on Monday, while suggesting to the government to give priority to crop diversification, allied farm sectors and alternative fertilisers like Nano urea. The Economic Survey 2021-22 also pitched for increasing agriculture research and development (R&D) and organic farming, besides use of new technologies like drones. "The performance of the agriculture and the allied sector has been resilient to the COVID-19 shock. ...Growth in allied sectors including livestock, dairying and fisheries has been the major drivers of overall growth in the sector," the Survey said. The agriculture sector has experienced buoyant growth in the past two years.
Nearly 96 per cent of new applicants will benefit from this simplified approval route.
Even by conservative assumptions that 5 to 10 per cent of infected individuals develop long Covid, India today may be home to 50 to 100 million infected individuals -- many silently coping with breathlessness, fatigue, palpitations, brain fog, or unexplained clotting tendencies.
As the Centre announced the inclusion of caste enumeration in the next census on Wednesday, opposition parties said it is a victory for their long-standing demand and sought time-bound implementation.
Whether it was in the company of superstars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan -- or, on rare occasions with both together, among others -- Saravanan's demeanour would stand out, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'...the electoral playing field is tilted significantly in its favour.'
Bihar's upcoming elections are marked by the significant presence of candidates from political families, raising questions about ideological commitments and democratic principles.
A string of welfare schemes and promises tests the state's budget, which is already heavily dependent on central support and spends little as capital outlay.
India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to expand by 9.2 per cent in the current financial year, according to the Economic Survey 2021-22 tabled in the parliament on Monday. "Advance estimates suggest that the Indian economy is expected to witness real GDP expansion of 9.2 per cent in 2021-22 after contracting in 2020-21. "This implies that overall economic activity has recovered past the pre-pandemic levels," Economic Survey noted. Almost all indicators show that the economic impact of the "second wave" in Q1 was much smaller than that experienced during the full lockdown phase in 2020-21 even though the health impact was more severe, it said.
Moody's Ratings on Wednesday said India's economic growth will exceed 6.5 per cent in the next fiscal, up from 6.3 per cent this year, on higher government capex and consumption boost from tax cuts and interest rate reduction. Projecting a stable outlook for the banking sector, Moody's said although the operating environment of Indian banks will remain favourable in the next fiscal, their asset quality will deteriorate moderately after substantial improvements in recent years, with some stress in unsecured retail loans, microfinance loans and small business loans.
'Poverty eradication is a continuous process. There is no full stop to it.'
Gen Z, driven by AI anxiety and economic pragmatism, have concerns about pursuing passions as careers as they fear it may not make them enough sufficient income.
Parliament's Budget Session will be held from January 31 to April 4, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set to table her eighth straight budget on February 1. The session will begin with President Droupadi Murmu's address to a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on January 31, followed by the tabling of the economic survey. The first part of the Budget Session will have nine sittings from January 31 to February 13, after which Parliament will break for recess to examine the budget proposals. The session will reconvene on March 10 to discuss the demands for grants of various ministries and complete the budgetary process, concluding on April 4.
Indian manufacturing sector witnessed the fastest improvement in operating conditions in over 17 years in August, driven by an increased production efficiency and healthy demand conditions, a monthly report said on Monday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose from 59.1 in July to 59.3 in August, indicating the fastest improvement in operating conditions for 17-and-a-half years.
India no longer needs big ticket reforms but small and basic ones to drive the growth forward, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said on Monday. Addressing the media after the Economic Survey 2023-24 presented in Parliament, Nageswaran said there is a need to pursue all possible approaches without any ideological orientation. "In terms of the kind of reforms that we need to do, it is no longer big-ticket reforms that dominate your front pages but more about grunt works.
The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
As one of the remedial measures, it has called for better connectivity of ports with hinterland to avoid congestions and faster movement of goods.
According to the survey report, the government's move to earmark Rs 76,000 crore outlay for semiconductors and display manufacturing segment will aid their production in the country. The survey said that government intervention to boost semiconductors and display manufacturing ecosystem in the country has come at a time when the global economy is facing acute shortage of semiconductors due to severe disruptions in supply chains.
Data 'of the people, by the people, for the people' must become govt's mantra, says Survey.
'This is going to generate a new debate on reservation because the quota for Economically Weaker Sections is 10%, and that is for nearly 16% of the population.' 'For 16% you are giving 10%. This is set to raise eyebrows among the OBCs after the caste survey.'
ITC, State Bank of India, HCL Technologies and IndusInd Bank were the other big laggards. NTPC, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the gainers.
'They are totally disconnected with farm activities which their families have been involved in for years.'
Political watchers say the caste survey report was made public to play the OBC-EBC card and stall the BJP's campaign to win most of Bihar's 40 Lok Sabha seats.
The National Annual Report & Index on Women's Safety (NARI) 2025 reveals the safest and least safe cities for women in India, highlighting factors influencing safety perceptions and experiences.
The pre-Budget Survey said for wealth to be distributed, it first has to be created and called for looking at wealth creators with respect. The Survey said government interventions seem to be ineffective in stabilising prices of commodities such as onions.
'In times of adversity, families unite, but the reverse is happening in the Lalu family.'
Amid a debate on the basis of a monetary policy stance, one may be curious enough to know how non-food retail inflation has behaved over the years in India. Let the eager souls catch a glimpse of facts. In the past 10 years, non-food inflation came down below 4 per cent on two occasions - pre-Covid period of 2019-20 and now in the first four months of the current financial year (FY25).
