Briefing reporters on her visit, state Finance Minister Amit Mitra said the Singapore Foreign Minister K Shanmugam has invited Banerjee to improve relations and she has accepted it.
Britain has finalised 1 billion pounds worth of new trade and investment with India, creating over 6,500 jobs in the UK, to be signed off at a virtual summit between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Tuesday. The investments confirmed by Downing Street on Monday evening form part of an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP), which will set the ambition to double the value of UK-India trade by 2030 and declare a shared intent to begin work towards a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA). "Like every aspect of the UK-India relationship, the economic links between our countries make our people stronger and safer," Johnson said.
The negotiations started on Sunday, a day ahead of schedule.
Inflation targeting has worked well and the government must stay with it, and the framework is going to work well in the period ahead also, former RBI Governor D Subbarao said on Thursday. He also said low inflation contributes to sustainable growth. Addressing the 'Times Network India Economic Conclave' virtually, Subbarao said the government's proposal to privatise some public sector units is not akin to selling family silver but it is a route for putting India on a sustainable growth path.
However, Bajpai ruled out any possibility of an epic battle in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections between Sonia Gandhi and Arun Jaitley.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday took stock of the power ministry's ambitious plans to set up five ultra mega power projects of 4,000 MW each envisaging an investment of Rs 75,000 crore
The government is keen to close the sale before March 31, 2021, to help meet a record Rs 2.1 lakh crore target which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has set from divestment proceeds in the Budget for 2020-21.
'Modi personally provides the higher direction of the ministry and the minister then works with bureaucrats on implementation,' points out Aakar Patel.
The government on Monday budgeted Rs 1.75 lakh crore from stake sale in public sector companies and financial institutions, including 2 PSU banks and one general insurance company, in the next fiscal year beginning April 1. The amount is lower than the record Rs 2.10 lakh crore which was budgeted to be raised from CPSE disinvestment in the current fiscal year. However, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the government's CPSE stake sale programme, and the target has been lowered to Rs 32,000 crore in the Revised Estimates.
As deputy governor, Patel headed the RBI panel to draft the monetary policy report, which became the basis of the ongoing reforms at the apex bank
The central government has agreed in-principle to Air India employees' main demands. It fears an industrial dissension now could impede the process of privatisation. It has agreed to bear the cost of liquidation loss on account of transfer to the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) from company-owned trusts, inclusion of employees in the central government health scheme (CGHS), and encashment of leaves. The template of the Air India process will be followed for other public sector undertakings up for privatisation at a later date.
Putin's visit comes at a time when Russia's economy is stalling as oil prices tumble
Vodafone to invest 1.3-billion pounds in upgrading and expanding its network in India.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday announced a slew of measures to boost investment in the infrastructure sector with a view to propel the economy on an over 9 per cent growth trajectory in the coming years.
Subramanian was the Dennis Weatherstone Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Global Development in the US before joining the ministry.
Rediff.com takes a look at the revamped Cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh:
'Initially, Gift City was just another real estate project, but all that changed with Modi moving to New Delhi,' notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Canada has indicated that it is keen to cooperate with India in nuclear energy and infrastructure and sought stronger trade ties in return, including a free trade agreement.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced a new job creation scheme by giving subsidy to those establishments that make new hires. The subsidy would be to cover for retirement fund contributions by employees as well as employers for two years, she said. Employees contribution (12 per cent of wages) and employer's contribution (12 per cent of wages) totalling 24 per cent of wages would be given to establishments for two years, she said. Under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana, every Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)-registered establishment taking new employees would get this subsidy.
Full list of the rejigged Union Council of Ministers
UAE would help India develop strategic petroleum reserves
EY said out of the nearly Rs 21 lakh crore package, Rs 8.01 lakh crore is on account of liquidity enhancing measures taken by the RBI since February.
Stating that money laundering was behind crimes like human and drug trafficking and terror financing, the minister called for greater international cooperation to deal with the menace.
In fact, the Taliban apparently collects about 10 per cent as cultivation tax from opium farmers and 15 per cent as heroin tax from laboratories and smugglers that smuggle narcotics into Pakistan. This, by itself, is a revenue stream estimated at USD 250-300 million.
Nearly two weeks after drone and missile attacks on its vital oil facilities, Saudi Arabia has said it is enhancing cooperation with India to combat terrorism, including choking funds to terror networks and exchange of information and intelligence.
In a first, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met the secretaries of all the government departments collectively and asked them to directly get in touch with him to resolve issues and expedite decision-making.
The Indian State does not believe in the rule of law. It does not even recognise the need to follow treaties that it itself signed. And so it is refusing to shell out to Cairn; and, as a consequence, has brought on the Paris humiliation, notes Mihir S Sharma.
The Tamil Nadu chief minister may have opened a Pandora's Box on the religion front with the appointment of qualified non-Brahmin temple priests, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan has come out with a communiqu announcing distribution of portfolios of the ministers sworn-in on Monday in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers:
NTPC was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, tumbling 2.25 per cent, followed by Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid, HDFC, Reliance Industries, Hero MotoCorp and M&M that shed up to 1.85 per cent.
Complimenting the police for unearthing the corporate espionage racket, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said it should now target the "top people" benefiting from the leak.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his Budget speech on Monday, announced a new dispute resolution mechanism for such companies who are in confrontation with the taxman's action.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday presented the Budget for 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha that is expected to provide relief to the pandemic-hit common man as well as focus more on driving economic recovery through higher spending on healthcare, infrastructure and defence amid rising tensions with neighbours, As India emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the ninth Budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely expected to focus on boosting spending on job creation and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign investments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day visit to the US this week was "very, very rich and productive" as significant progress was made in wide range of areas from civil nuclear energy to defence and trade, America's top diplomat in New Delhi has said.
The oil crisis could not have come at a worse time for the Modi government as its tax collection has fallen short of its 2020-2021 target by Rs 5.2 lakh crore.
Pakistan should not buy electricity from India, Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed has told the government, days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed his power minister to visit India to address the severe energy crisis facing the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not taking along an industry delegation to the US but top representatives of India Inc are likely to travel to New York and Washington to be part of the power-packed business meetings and receptions being hosted for him.
The Finance Minister said despite adverse international environment, India managed to maintain GDP growth rate of about 7 per cent in 2011-12.
US President Barack Obama on Monday announced investments and loans worth $4 billion by American agencies as part of measures to bolster trade with India.
An amendment in the 2013 bill was necessary, said Jaitley.
