Terming the 23.9 per cent fall in economic growth in the June quarter alarming, former Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan has said bureaucracy should come out of complacency and take meaningful action. The current crisis requires a more thoughtful and active government, he said, adding, "Unfortunately, after an initial burst of activity, it seems to have retreated into a shell."
'Wage earners are shrinking. In both, the organised and unorganised sectors. And, entrepreneurs are growing.' 'But the increase in entrepreneurship is of a kind that does not create salaried employment or daily wage employment,' says Mahesh Vyas.
That is what you will hear again after Nirmala Sitharaman presents a speech that will prove to be meaningless and numbers that will show themselves to be wildly off the mark, observes Aakar Patel.
'This is a critical story that Modi seems to grasp far better -- almost instinctively -- in comparison with most of his predecessors as prime ministers,' notes M K Bhadrakumar.
The Indian High Commission made its displeasure known despite the British government earlier reiterating that the three New Delhi laws on agricultural reform were a "domestic matter".
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting five measures to conserve money for the fight against COVID-19, including a complete ban on media advertisements by government and PSUs for two years and suspending the Central Vista beautification project.
In the last one week several companies have had to face the hurdle of making a distinction between what's essential and what's not. To help them the government has now clarified that grocery would include hygiene products such as hand wash, soaps, disinfectants, body wash, shampoo, surface cleaners, detergents, tissue paper, toothpaste, oral care, sanitary pads, diapers, chargers and battery cells, etc.
Polling began on Thursday in the United Kingdom in one of the closest general elections seen in decades.
Concerned by GDP slowdown and unrealistic tax targets, the economists urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to implement long-term structural steps like land and labour reforms. Warning against any off-Budget financing the economists said the government should prepare a statement of intent for its social, rural and welfare sector expenditure.
'The Congress party hated him because he had not gone to jail, he was not lathi charged, he had not gone on hunger strike.' 'They felt he had lived in London all his life and then he came to India and became an MP and a minister.'
Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that with pro-people measures and infrastructure development, Modi has not only prepared a blueprint for making a strong 'new India' but also a self-reliant one for the country's 'golden future', while party president J P Nadda declared that the period will be known for taking tough and big decisions and turning challenges into opportunities.
With the gradual opening up of shops, hotels, restaurants and catering services with limited number of participants, milk consumption has improved by 5-10 per cent from the lowest level.
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The company had reported a net loss of Rs 650.78 crore (Rs 6.5 billion) in the same period a year-ago, Kingfisher Airlines said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
May is now expected focus on pushing her controversial withdrawal agreement through for a last-ditch Commons vote next Tuesday
The report, 'More and Better Jobs in South Asia', released on Thursday said the required new jobs will be equivalent to about 40 per cent of the increase in the global labour force during the period.
Daily wagers are running out of resources, including ration and cash, and the state governments might not be able to sustain their needs for a longer period of time, given the lockdown has already been extended until May 3.
The unemployment situation is becoming increasingly acute.
The Emergency greatly influenced the RSS' makeover from a fringe force in the Indian political imagination to one that could have its own man sworn in as prime minister in two decades' time. A riveting excerpt from Christophe Jaffrelot and Pratinav Anil's India's First Dictatorship: The Emergency, 1975-1977.
ISI chief Faiz Hameed coerced the Taliban to announce an interim government guaranteed to preserve Pakistan's control over the levers of power in Kabul, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The biggest challenge is not the airline's debt, but downsizing its 16,800 employees, says Surajeet Dasgupta.
Children between the ages of 10 and 14 continue to be brought to Garden City from villages in north India after their parents are paid a nominal amount and promised a job, shelter and work in Karnataka.
'Breaking down silos and ensuring a more integrated governance process is just as important to performance.' 'It has been a major priority in the last six years, especially in national security,' External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar points out when delivering the Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture-2020: India and the Post-Covid World.
Opportunities for job seekers are expected to grow even better in 2015 with employers in India being most optimistic on hiring, says a report.
'No linen, blankets and curtains shall be provided inside the train. Passengers are advised to carry their own linen,' an order by the Railways said. The order also said that there would be no provision of 'tatkal' and 'premium tatkal' accommodation and there will be very few stoppages during the journey.
The exporters are optimistic that the industry will grow by 8-10 per cent and it can improve further if the government helps the industry.
When the lockdown was lifted last year, Rasikbhai Kotadiya, who runs a powerloom unit in the Kim-Pipodara industrial area on the outskirts of Surat, was left with only four workers out of the 48 that he used to employ to run his 128 looms. Though the economy had been unlocked, his textile unit, and that of thousands of others, struggled to resume operations. By the last week of May, nearly 700,000 of Surat's 1.2-1.5 million migrant workers, left high and dry with no pay during the lockdown, had returned home. In Laskana, another textile weaving hub in Surat, the powerlooms were all but silent, with only 2,000 of the total 55,000 looms churning out grey cloth at a snail's pace.
'Tell me, one BJP policy that Mamata has opposed and is fighting tooth and nail?' Be it Article 370, instant triple talaq, be it CAA/NRC/NPR, be it notebandi, FDI, she has aligned with the BJP.'
With exports turning positive since November 2009, the sector added 1.87 lakh jobs during the January - March period over the previous quarter.
The youth captured in this report is between the age of 15 and 25 years, a period when many would still be pursuing education.
The 2014 survey, which polled 502 global executives from companies with international presence, showed the majority of respondents were considering increasing their presence in India.
If purists are surprised as to why and how people are not demanding prohibition or not talking about past promises, both in the election manifestos five years back and even those made to the courts, the answer lies in how the state has been evolving and changing these past few years, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'He has been made CM of Uttarakhand because everybody thinks he is not a challenge to anyone.'
'I would want people to have food on their tables and their wages to rise.' 'Will that happen or not is the question that we need to ask and answer.'
If eight states could join the VAT system much after the rollout date and after seeing how it works, why can't the same apply to states opposed to the farm laws, asks A K Bhattacharya.
How are Indians faring during the lockdown?
'The government allowed private hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients, so it should pay.'
Data captured in central government records have a lag.
Import growth moderated to a four-month low, owing to sharp decline in that of gold.
'A national government will help us to harness the totality of national resources to fight the war against the coronavirus most effectively,' state Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd) and Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Nothing will stop India's top three-four corporates who have become aggressive players in the agri-markets after Modi came to power from acting in concert to drive down at will the prices at which they buy from farmers.' 'These corporate houses have the wherewithal to purchase all the farm produce at low prices and store them for a long period of time.' 'Once the harvest season is over they will sell the same produce at higher prices.'
