PM Modi went to New York this time not to engage in polemics, but to find solutions to global problems. He made some progress on several matters, even on reform of the UN Security Council, when the US made a major concession for the first time that six permanent members without veto, including India, could be considered
International oil prices continue to be extremely volatile, falling on one day and rising thereafter, a top oil ministry official said explaining the reason behind no reduction in petrol and diesel prices despite softening in input cost, but could not say if the rates will be cut before Maharashtra elections. Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell below $70 per barrel last week -- the first time since December 2021 -- but gained thereafter. Brent was trading at $74.58 per barrel on Thursday while West Texas Intermediate advanced to trade at $71.71.
India's services sector activities eased in March as growth was hit by the detrimental impact of the coronavirus pandemic and input costs remained elevated, a monthly survey said on Wednesday. The seasonally-adjusted India Services Business Activity Index fell from 55.3 in February to 54.6 in March. Though the rates of expansion softened, it indicated growth for the sixth consecutive month. In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion while a score below 50 denotes contraction.
Global trends, macroeconomic data announcements and the start of the earnings season would be the major drivers for the equity markets in a holiday-shortened week, analysts said. Equity markets will remain closed on Thursday for Eid-Ul-Fitr. Trading activity of foreign investors, rupee-dollar trends and crude oil prices would also guide trends in markets.
'The China opportunity, the digital opportunity and the end of geography opportunity are the three pieces of luck India got due to Covid.'
There was no smooth surge in middle class prosperity for foreign businesses to tap into because of the Indian economy was mismanaged, argues Debashis Basu.
The US needs to understand that it could potentially lose out on attracting several Netravalkars in the future if it curbs the influx of such industrious Indian immigrants, argues Vishal Menon.
India's services sector activity expanded at a slower pace in December as rates of growth in sales eased to a three-month low and staff hiring came to a halt amid weak business optimism, a monthly survey said on Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index fell from 53.7 in November to 52.3 in December. The index was above the critical 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for the third month in a row during December, but pointed to the slowest pace of expansion in the three-month sequence.
This case is the largest investigated by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force to date, US Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton said in a press release.
Pakistan may want to undertake a 'false flag' operation in J&K to divert attention from the situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but infiltrating one SSG battalion into J&K and having two SSG battalions waiting to follow suit means war, which Pakistan cannot afford in its current economic crisis, notes Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Scrutiny of Google's code of conduct in the Indian Android ecosystem is far from over with several start-ups preparing to appeal against the company's revised policies of service fee on in-app purchases and subscriptions, according to sources in the know. This comes days after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) granted partial relief to the tech giant, reversing four of the 10 key non-monetary directives that would have forced Google to allow uninstalling of its pre-installed apps on Android devices. Paytm, BharatMatrimony, and ShareChat are among the start-ups that are likely to file grievances against the tech major for alleged non-compliance with the Competition Commission of India's (CCI's) cease-and-desist order on Play Store policies.
Young Indian stars will be eager to usher in a new era in the shortest format with a series victory when they face Zimbabwe in the fourth T20I in Harare on Saturday.
IT and interest rate-sensitive bank, realty, and auto stocks ended with sharp gains.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday revised upwards the GDP growth projection for the current fiscal to 7.2 per cent from 7 per cent on rising private consumption and revival of demand in rural areas. Unveiling the bi-monthly monetary policy, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said estimates released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) placed India's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 8.2 per cent in 2023-24. "During 2024-25 so far, domestic economic activity has maintained resilience," he said, adding that manufacturing activity continues to gain ground on the back of strengthening domestic demand.
The recovery in the Indian services sector was sustained in November as new work orders supported business activity growth and the first rise in employment in nine months, a monthly survey said on Thursday.
Industry body CII on Thursday made a case for pushing reforms in sectors like land, labour, and agriculture by the Modi 3.0 government to accelerate economic growth, which is estimated to be around 8 per cent in the current financial year. CII president Sanjiv Puri said a lot of policy interventions in the past have put the economy on "a much stronger wicket". "The growth rate is poised to touch 8 per cent during the current year, marking the fourth consecutive year of above 7 per cent + growth.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu termed it the 'largest cooperation project in our history', one that would 'change the face of the Middle East, Israel, and impact the entire world'.
There are indications or signs of the economy picking up -- collection of GST and consumption of electricity, said former RBI governor, C Rangarajan.
Addressing reporters at his residence soon after the meeting ended, Chowdhury said six names came up before the panel for the selection of the two ECs and the names of Sandhu and Kumar were finalised by a majority of members of the high-powered panel.
It is to be seen if SBI under Setty, who will have a three-year term, can ride the economic cycle to take SBI to new heights, navigating some of these challenges.
'Many do not have robust business models, and their prospects of survival and long-term growth are poor.'
Salaries in India are expected to increase by 9.5 per cent in 2024, slightly lower than the actual increase of 9.7 per cent in 2023, largely in response to market dynamics, according to global professional services firm Aon plc. According to the firm's annual salary increase and turnover survey 2023-24 India, that analysed data across 1,414 companies from almost 45 industries, salary increase in India seems to have stabilised at high single digits, after the post-pandemic high increments in 2022. "The projected increase in salaries in the Indian formal sector indicates a strategic adjustment in response to the evolving economic landscape.
Delhi's appeasement strategy may now translate as more mega arms deals with the US, generating substantial business and job creation in the American economy. Make no mistake, Americans will use it to pressure India, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
This is the full text of the address to the nation by President Droupadi Murmu on the eve of India's 78th Independence Day.
Macroeconomic (macro) concerns, along with a cautious approach towards discretionary information technology (IT) spending, will see the revenue for Indian IT firms decelerate by 5 per cent through 2024-25 (FY25), from the highs of 12-18 per cent in 2022-23, said analysts from S&P Global Ratings. "The reason behind this slow growth is a macro slowdown. "Customers are cutting their discretionary IT spending, especially on projects that take longer to deliver quantifiable outcomes. "We also acknowledge that there are still strong economic headwinds for the next few years," said Spencer Ng, associate director, corporate ratings, S&P Global Ratings, over a call in a media briefing.
Gandhi also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the economic situation in the country, saying the PM should get his head "out of the sand" to deal with the problem facing the country.
'...you evaluate three key factors before committing your money.'
Over 95 per cent of organisations in India have experienced new types of fraud incidents in the past two years, a PwC Survey said on Tuesday. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the uncertainties associated with it, subsequent shift to digital operations and remote working, businesses have been exposed to new risks related to digital security, employee safety and disinformation, said the PwC's 'Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2022' report.
India's exports may have touched an all-time high of $422 billion in 2021-22 but recession in key western markets and geo-political crisis due to the Russia-Ukraine war are expected to impact the growth of the country's outbound shipments in 2023. All the global trade promoting factors like political stability, movement of goods, adequate availability of containers and shipping lines, demand, stable currency and smooth banking systems are in disarray. Adding to the woes, COVID cases have again started rising in countries like China, Japan, South Korea and the US.
India's services sector activities contracted further in June as the intensification of the COVID-19 crisis and reintroduction of containment measures restricted demand, a monthly survey said on Monday. The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index fell from 46.4 in May to 41.2 in June, as new work intakes and output contracted at the fastest rates since July 2020, which prompted companies to reduce employment again. Subdued demand conditions resulted in a second successive monthly drop in new business received by services firms.
'How can you explain the necessity of selling an institution that has been delivering regular returns to the government, that has never asked for any capital from the government, that has invested Rs 38 lakh crores in the Indian economy and that owns 4 per cent of the market capitalisation in India?'
An increase in the farmer income support scheme PM Kisan Nidhi, the introduction of a 'robot tax' to fund reskilling of people who lose their jobs to artificial intelligence (AI), and a reduced income-tax (I-T) to bring relief to the middle classes - these are some of the items in the Budget wish list submitted by Sangh Parivar affiliates to Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman. Representatives of the affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), such as the farmer organisation Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS); trade union Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS); Laghu Udyog Bharati, which works for micro and small industries; and Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), which works on economic and policy issues, met the FM and other officials over the last couple of weeks as part of the pre-Budget consultations.
'What my Labour government will seek with India is a relationship based on our shared values of democracy and aspiration. That will seek a free trade agreement (FTA), we share that ambition, but also a new strategic partnership for global security, climate security, economic security'
'We emphasise the importance of not basing investment decisions solely on electoral outcomes.' 'Instead, focusing on investing in high-quality businesses capable of prospering regardless of the political landscape is paramount.'
The coaching-tuition-profiteering model built on the back of a broken education system is a scandal and an abomination, and must go, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The compulsion behind India and Japan to deepen security cooperation is in response to China's growing political and economic clout and its assertive behaviour in disputed areas. This has been the key driver for bringing both India and Japan closer in the domain of security cooperation, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
Hospitality players want the government to accord infrastructure status to hotels to make investments on new properties more attractive rather than categorising them as luxury or even 'sin goods' in the upcoming Union Budget considering the sector's potential to play a key role in India's growth. They also want the government to consider incentives in the form of tax breaks or subsidies for adopting sustainable and eco-friendly practices, while asserting that the upcoming budget must accelerate the tourism agenda saying it is an opportunity to make Indian hospitality the emerging engine for GDP growth and employment generation.
Why are financial-technology (fintech) players moving back to India, or doing the reverse-flipping?
'I don't think we have ever seen such alignment of everything that we need in the banking sector.'
'It would be reasonable to assume that Modi 3.0 would be more focused on projects and schemes which do not require any legislative change or which have the support of its coalition partners,' asserts A K Bhattacharya.
