The finance minister's assertion that industry should not expect any spectacular announcements in the 2024 interim Budget suggest that the electoral imperatives of more tax concessions or higher expenditure on welfarist programmes could be far less pronounced than they were before the 2019 interim Budget, expects A K Bhattacharya.
The finance ministry has cautioned that global and regional uncertainties and domestic disruptions may keep inflationary pressures elevated in the coming months, warranting "greater vigilance" by the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). "Russia's decision to terminate the Black Sea grain deal, along with dry conditions in major wheat-growing areas, caused a price spike in cereals. Domestic factors like white fly disease and an uneven distribution of monsoon exerted pressure on vegetable prices in India," the ministry said in its latest Monthly Economic Report for July, released on Tuesday. However, the report maintained, the recent price surge in certain food items "is expected to be transitory". "Tomato prices are likely to decline with the arrival of fresh stocks by the end of August or early September.
A panel led by the secretaries of the DEA and the DIPP would conduct a quarterly review on the pending proposals.
The matter is now expected to be raised with the PMO.
As part of an overall strategy of improving food management to reduce inflationary pressure, the food ministry has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to incentivise organised retail trade in the farm sector.
Cracking the whip, Railways have imposed heavy fines totalling Rs 11.5 lakh on nine caterers including Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation for serving "bad quality" food in trains.
The cooking oil national industry body -- Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA) of India has suggested immediate initiation of government to government (G2G) dialogue with Indonesia on the proposed palm oil export ban from April 28 by them as it would have an adverse repercussions in India. Indonesia, which is the world's largest producer of palm oil and meets nearly 50 per cent of the total palm oil requirement in India annually, had announced to ban exports till further notice apparently to contain edible oil prices in their domestic market. "We have suggested our government initiate dialogue with Indonesian counterparts at the highest diplomatic level on the cooking oil export ban.
The California walnuts shipped from the US to India have seen a sharp uptick with imports more than doubling from September to November against the same period last year. This comes after New Delhi removed its retaliatory customs tariffs on the key dry fruit. Two days ahead of US President Joe Biden's visit to New Delhi to attend the G20 Summit on September 9-10, India dropped additional customs duties on about half a dozen US goods that were imposed in 2019 in response to America raising tariffs on certain steel and aluminum products coming from India.
The wholesale price-based inflation declined to 4.95 per cent in December 2022, mainly due to fall in prices of food articles and crude petroleum. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was 5.85 per cent in November 2022 and 14.27 per cent in December 2021. Inflation in food articles was (-)1.25 per cent, while in fuel and power it was 18.09 per cent during December 2022.
According to the food ministry, about 142 lakh migrants will benefit in Uttar Pradesh and in Bihar (86.45 lakh), Maharasthra (70 lakh), West Bengal (60.1 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (54.64 lakh), Rajasthan (44.66 lakh), Karnataka (40.19 lakh), Gujarat (38.25 lakh), Tamil Nadu (35.73 lakh), Jharkhand (26.37 lakh), Andhra Pradesh (26.82 lakh) and Assam (25.15 lakh).
Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar was given the finance and planning portfolio on Friday, nearly two weeks after he broke away from the original party and took oath as Maharashtra's deputy chief minister.
The study also found that most GM foods did not disclose the fact on the label. "A few also made false claims of being GM-free," the study by CSE said.
With the abolition of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), Amazon's proposal will now be vetted by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under the commerce ministry.
Wholesale price-based inflation rate fell to a 3-year low of (-) 3.48 per cent in May on easing prices of food, fuel and manufactured items, strengthening the case for continuing with the pause in rate hike in the coming months of the current fiscal. This is the second straight month when WPI has been in the negative zone mainly on account of a higher base and falling prices of fuel and manufactured goods. Food prices also eased during May. In May, 2022 WPI inflation was at 16.63 per cent. Last month, it was (-) 0.92 per cent.
The UK Food Standards Agency had asked for test reports from India.
A 6-7 million tonnes shortfall in rice production due to a fall in paddy sowing area is likely to keep rice prices at elevated levels, adding to the inflationary pressure that the slowing economy is already grappling with. Elevated food prices, including that of cereals, had led to retail inflation reversing a three-month declining trend, to touch 7 per cent in August. Similarly, the wholesale price inflation, which declined to 11-month low, also showed price pressures from cereals resulting from wheat output being impacted by severe heat waves in some parts of the country.
'When there was no crime committed, everything had to be fabricated. They see it as a war, and everything is fair in love and war.'
While rising food inflation is a matter of grave concern for a significant chunk of the population and for policy makers as well, it marks a turnaround in the fortunes of the farmer, reports Sanjeeb Mukherjee.
Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said whenever BJP came to power, prices of essential commodities saw a fall.
Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis said Russia would be asked to join the peace plan discussions at some point in time but to bring Russia on the table would require mediation by some countries.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reported that its forces are operating in what was described as a targeted manner at Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
The government has exhausted only 39 per cent of its fiscal deficit target in the first half of FY24.
However, the UP government said it has given one more month to Patanjali to meet the conditions required to get the final approval.
A fresh estimate from the ministry of food processing says a whopping Rs 58,000 crore (Rs 580 billion) worth of agriculture food items get wasted in the country every year.
The minister expressed hope that toll operators will respond to his call positively. Earlier, Gadkari had asked NHAI to suspend toll on all national highways to ease transportation of essential goods and supplies.
'Outrage will take place sooner than later, because it's not only that their mandate has been stolen, but the most important issue right now is the sinking economy in Pakistan.' 'Inflation is 26%-27%. It is backbreaking inflation.' 'Food, energy, education, health, which are the primary things that every family requires, is going beyond the reach of the masses.'
Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi claimed in a social media post that the website of the Ministry of Food Processing shows the CM's wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma's firm Pride East Entertainments Pvt Ltd has received Rs 10 crore as part of credit credit-linked subsidy.
There is no near-term respite for the country's largest fast-moving consumer goods maker, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), which is facing multiple challenges on the growth front. With demand showing no signs of improvement, especially in the rural segment, the October-December quarter (Q3) of 2023-24 (FY24) is likely to be similar to the previous quarter, with volume growth in the low single digits. The stock, which is down 7 per cent over the past year compared to the 11 per cent jump for the S&P BSE Sensex, could underperform the benchmark in the near term as well.
Recent data on the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India show its commendable performance. But there is an urgent need to address certain issues related to the way it functions and its infrastructure, says A K Bhattacharya.
In the 'Additional guidelines for quarantine of returnees from abroad/contacts/ isolation of suspect or confirmed cases in private facilities', released on Thursday evening, the ministry said there are large number of facilities such as hotels, service apartments and lodges which are "unoccupied due to impact of COVID-19 on travel and tourism".
The total incentive outgo under the ambitious production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme is estimated to be less than Rs. 40,000 crore by the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25), when it completes the fourth year of implementation, according to the government's internal estimates. This means only a fourth of the allocated Rs 1.97 trillion is expected to be utilised by the end of FY24, indicating that not all the 14 PLI schemes would have taken off fully. While three of the 14 schemes - large-scale electronics manufacturing, bulk drugs, and medical devices - were introduced in 2020, the remaining were launched the following year.
Pre-Budget excercise next month should scrupulously avoid adventurism of all types and refrain from making excessively ambitious projections on revenue and expenditure numbers for 2023-24, suggests A K Bhattacharya.
Food inflation, as measured by Wholesale Price Index, stood at 9.13 per cent in the previous week.
The ban will be in place for at least three months, according to an advisory issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), under the health and family welfare ministry.
But the government will present a second tranche of Supplementary Demands for Grants during the Budget session of Parliament in February, when it can seek additional spending.
The best-case scenario is that the BJP will top out at around 50 seats in UP -- a drop of 12 from the 62 it had won in 2019. Taken in tandem with Maharashtra and Karnataka, this is what is likely to put paid to the BJP's ambitions of a third term for Modi, argues Prem Panicker.
The bone of contention is product approvals, which pharma and neutraceuticals companies say cannot be re-introduced through the regulation route
In a statement later, the White House said Biden and Netanyahu discussed Israel's military campaign in Gaza, including its "objectives and phasing".
The concern is that the scheme may not take off, like its precursor in the previous five-year plan.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances