'Should you give a man fish, or teach him how to fish?' 'Lurking hidden in the new bout of welfarism seems to be an admission that the State can't deliver for the poor anything other than cash,' notes T N Ninan.
'Gloom is nowhere in sight, with healthy foreign exchange reserves, a strong rupee, healthy tax collections, corruption and crony capitalism under check,' argues Gopal Krishna Agrawal.
'If it is true that we are in a moment in time when the few economic advantages we hold are being lost, our focus must be on that rather than on finger-pointing,' says Aakar Patel.
'India serves itself poorly with its latter-day discovery of Pakistan as an instrument in domestic politics,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
The market capitalisation of the BSE-listed companies reached an all-time high of Rs 220.74 lakh crore on Thursday, helped by a bullish sentiment in the equity market. At the close of trade, their market capitalisation stood at Rs 2,20,74,421.11 crore. The 30-share BSE benchmark closed 97.70 points, or 0.19 per cent, higher at 51,115.22 on Thursday.
Macroeconomic data, the pace of vaccination and global trends would be the major drivers for the domestic equity markets this week, analysts said. Besides, the progress of monsoon will also be monitored. "This week marks the beginning of the new month also, so participants will be eyeing the high-frequency indicators like auto sales and manufacturing PMI during the week. "Besides, the progress of monsoon will also remain on their radar.
Analysts attribute this outperformance to the government's proactive economic reform measures
'Just as the BJP has been harnessing the power of religion for political purposes, Modi needs to harness the power of religious and corporate institutions for poverty alleviation,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
Kicking off his two-day Haryana roadshow in Faridabad, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday slammed the Congress and BJP, saying gas prices will "increase manifold" if the two parties come to power.
'If the 'ideology' is just Hindutva, meaning cattle slaughter, temple issue, love jihad, joined with random acts on the side of economics and foreign policy, then we are in deeper trouble than we think,' says Aakar Patel.
While welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement on Saturday to celebrate January 16 as National Start-up Day, six years after the Start-up India Action Plan was launched by the government, stakeholders in the ecosystem say that more needs to be done at the policy level to unleash the next phase of growth in the sector. "The Start-up India programme's launch in 2016 was a turning point - that is when the promoter came to be known as the founder in the country and the word 'entrepreneur' entered the common lexicon. "But now we need a Start-up India 2.0 now for the next phase of growth of the ecosystem", said Siddarth Pai, managing partner of venture capital (VC) firm 3one4 Capital. Pai says that Startup India 2.0 must look at promoting Startups headquartered in tier II,III & IV cities and solving the problems of Bharat.
'Course correction today would be good politics and also good economics,' notes T N Ninan.
AIBOC in a letter to the Prime Minister, has said the government should not expect the banking fraternity to "join the political campaign of #MainBhiChowkidar" unless issues related to merger of banks, salary revision and staff recruitment, among others, are addressed.
'The UP election results show that people voted not on caste and religion lines; they went above that and voted for development, honesty, pride in the country, etc.' 'If UP can show the way, the rest of the country also can follow.'
The incoming government will have to encourage private investments, bring down cost of capital
Listening -- really listening -- to advisers in the government and outside would help. India has plenty of wise economists who have worked within the bureaucracy during previous crises, points out Rahul Jacob.
Bankers seem to be pleased with the government for keeping its promise of not interfering in operational matters, but are apprehensive about the intense scrutiny of their functioning.
Reliance Industries was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, soaring over 4 per cent, followed by Titan, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, Maruti and Dr Reddy's. Nifty advanced 89.45 points to its all-time closing peak of 17,323.60.
Quarterly earnings from IT majors Infosys and Wipro, macroeconomic data announcements and global cues would be the major drivers for the equity markets this week, said analysts. Leading IT companies Infosys and Wipro and other players such as Mindtree, Tata Elxsi and HDFC AMC would announce their financial results this week. Moreover, industrial production numbers, retail and wholesale inflation data would be released this week.
'People are angry.' 'First notebandi, then GST, now losses on the farm have ruined us.'
Consumers are paying an exorbitant 180 per cent tax on petrol, and 140 per cent on diesel in Delhi and in most other towns in India. Little wonder then that the central government expects a staggering Rs 3.46 trillion by levying excise duties on retail sale of the two fuels this year, and Rs 3.2 trillion the next. States would generally have had reason to cheer, as they command a 41 per cent share in Centre's tax revenues. But as the Centre has raised excise duties in the form of "cess," the revenue proceeds are by nature not shareable with states.
One hundred and forty nine new individuals joined the rich list club of 1,103 Indians across 122 cities who cumulatively accumulated a wealth of Rs 100 trillion. Bengaluru -based Kaivalya Vohra, 19, of grocery delivery application Zepto is the youngest self-made and the youngest rich individual, according to IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2022. The report found 1,103 Indians with a networth of Rs 1,000 crore each - an increase of 62 per cent over five years. There are 221 billionaires (Rs 100 crore networth) in India on the 2022 list - down 16 compared with last year, while 13 people born in the 1990s made it to the list, all self-made.
'The principles on which a modern Republic should be governed are changing and taking dangerous turns,' warns Uddalok Bhattacharya.
November 8 marks 6 years after demonetisation. A K Bhattacharya reveals how the prime minister and the RBI worked together for months before Modi's 8 pm speech. A riveting excerpt from The Rise Of Goliath: Twelve Disruptions That Changed India.
After resorting to quirky measures like debarring party spokespersons from news channel debates, the opposition parties are now overhauling their organisational set-ups and purging respective executives, committees and wings to weed out non-performers and deadwood. Virendra Singh Rawat reports.
'There are deliberations on whether there can be lowering of income taxes and other sops to keep more money in the hands of taxpayers, enabling them to spend more and boost demand.'
Failure to sell Air India, IDBI may have prompted a change in strategy.
Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday said that the country is witnessing 'politics of change' and called on the youth to make it successful.
There is talk of a fresh approach to a new labour code as well as reforming land acquisition laws in such a way as to be politically.
'The road ahead for the government's fiscal management will be full of many new challenges,' warns A K Bhattacharya.
Inflation data and global trends would be the major driving factors for the equity markets this week which after a record-breaking run took a breather in recent trades, analysts said. The overall market sentiment remains positive, supported by improving economic data and earnings but higher valuations can trigger bouts of profit booking, they said further. During the last week, which the 30-share BSE benchmark rose by 175.12 points or 0.30 per cent.
Start your digital detox today before irreversible damage to health and mental complications stalk your life, advises Ramesh Menon.
Reliance Industries was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, soaring nearly 6 per cent, followed by M&M, HDFC twins, Kotak Bank, ITC and Bharti Airtel.
The first quarter earnings season will dictate the trend in the equity markets in this holiday-shortened week amid absence of major macroeconomic drivers, say analysts. Besides, lacklustre global markets may increase volatility in the market, they added. Equity markets would remain closed on Wednesday for Bakri-Id.
India's politicians need to do a better job of managing the economy: Inflation control, productivity improvement, etc, asserts T N Ninan.
Is there a conflict of interest in civil servants having a decisive say on the recommendations made by a Pay Commission or is it time for a new review mechanism, asks A K Bhattacharya.
Investors' wealth slumped over Rs 8.77 lakh crore on Monday as concerns over surging COVID-19 cases in the country roiled the equity market. The 30-share BSE benchmark index plunged 1,707.94 points or 3.44 per cent to close at 47,883.38. During the day, it nosedived 1,897.88 points to 47,693.44. Tracking losses in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies eroded by Rs 8,77,435.5 crore to Rs 2,00,85,806.37 crore.
In Maharashtra, Bhagat Singh Koshyari has done pretty much as he liked, observes Aditi Phadnis.
'The Indian Right can afford to be rigid; but as liberals, our position has to be one of constant evolution, or else death awaits us,' argues Sreehari Nair.
Agriculture, social services, education, defence and so on will be brought into the digital fold and every gram panchayat will be connected to the internet.