In an expansive and relaxed mood, Finance Minister P Chidambaram explained the big idea behind Budget 2005-06 and his priorities for the coming year
'The reason I am not anxious about the opponent facing me in the front (Ajit Pawar) is because of who is standing behind me like a rock (Sharad Pawar).'
'Some of the astounding proposals, if translated into statutory provisions, would be suicidal.' 'This would not be a wonder cure for increasing insurance penetration and only result in mushrooming growth of players like paan kiosks with deleterious consequences.'
Telecom regulator Trai on Wednesday released draft recommendations on rural telephony for overcoming various constraints coming in the way of increasing telecom penetration in rural India.
'Geopolitics will be the most important driver of financial markets in 2025.'
This survey also shows how things have moved forward since the last large-scale sample survey conducted by NSSO in 2012-13
'Maharashtra is virtually in a debt trap.'
Automobile (auto) retail sales in India grew by an impressive 14 per cent in July compared to the same period last year, driven by a surge in the rural economy, good product availability, and product launches. While passenger vehicles (PVs) saw a 10 per cent increase during this period, inventory levels have surged to a historic high of 67-72 days in PVs, equating to Rs 73,000 crore worth of stock, according to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada). This poses a risk to dealer sustainability. Inventory levels in July 2023 were only 50-55 days, equating to a stock worth Rs 49,833 crore. In June 2024, inventory was between 62 and 67 days, with a stock value of Rs 60,000 crore.
Private sector banks in India are taking the lead in the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in areas like fraud detection, customer segmentation, and chat automation, according to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) study. The asset size and capital adequacy ratio are influencing the rate of adoption.
When Dell decided to start its operations in Tamil Nadu, the state government wanted the company to operate from a rural area.
Players like Ola Electric, Ather Energy, Kinetic Green and BGauss are introducing premium services and infrastructure enhancements.
Success in the Lok Sabha polls would help Twitter chart out its growth story in India.
Starting with villages in Sangli district of Maharashtra, Dharma today sells products and services.
'I wonder if they will keep it up after the elections.' 'I fear they'll start questioning eligibility -- income, age, bank accounts -- and eventually stop the scheme altogether.'
'The government does not want to be transparent or accountable. Therefore, they do not want to appoint information commissioners.'
Since the first Aadhaar number was issued in September 2010, more than 1.33 billion Aadhaar cards have been generated till June 2022. With the Aadhaar enrolment of adult Indians nearing 100 per cent, the main objective of the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI), which was to give Unique Identification numbers (UID) to all residents of India, is almost achieved, said a senior government official. "Enrolment will now be much more update-based, because people keep updating their mobile numbers and addresses.
Drone maker Garuda Aerospace have renewed their brand ambassador contract with M S Dhoni after he tops up investment in the company.
Of these 8.5 million additional people employed in September, 6.5 million were in rural India, reveals Mahesh Vyas.
Fitch Ratings on Tuesday raised India's growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7.2 per cent, from 7 per cent projected in March, saying elevated consumer confidence will drive spending, besides increased investments. In June update to its global economic outlook report, Fitch said it expects inflation to decline to 4.5 per cent by end of this year and RBI to cut policy interest rates by 25 basis points to 6.25 per cent.
Wedding planner WedMeGood estimates that the average wedding budget has surged to Rs 36.5 lakh this year, with destination weddings averaging Rs 51 lakh.
Indian economy is in a sweet spot, with a mix of solid growth and moderating inflation, Moody's Ratings said, forecasting a 7.2 per cent GDP growth in the 2024 calendar year and 6.6 per cent in the next. In its Global Macro Outlook 2025-26, the rating agency said the global economy has shown remarkable resilience in bouncing back from supply chain disruptions during the pandemic, an energy and food crisis after the Russia-Ukraine war began, high inflation and consequent monetary policy tightening.
Nasscom Foundation along with Google has set up a call centre in collaboration with a not-for-profit body ISAP to help women farmers scale up their business. The project is being run on a pilot basis to initially reach out to 20,000 rural women entrepreneurs across six states -- Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and Rajasthan, Nasscom Foundation CEO Nidhi Bhasin said at the launch of "DigiVaani Call Center". "DigiVaani will be one place where rural women entrepreneurs will be able to call and get the information around various schemes available for them, which can help them scale up their business, be it government scheme or any other information that can be of help for them.
When Kasturi Rajamurty won a gold medal in powerlifting at the WPPL World Cup in Russia, she sure had come a long way. From a life of penury to constantly being short of funds to fuel her passion, she had finally triumphed, and how.
'All the big things happening today in economic development have their beginning in Dr Manmohan Singh's ideas.'
'In the new coalition government, India's reform agenda may prioritise job creation and factor market reforms.'
According to an NSSO survey, Indians in rural areas spend less than Rs 21 per day, while in urban area an Indian spends about Rs 39 per day.
Passenger vehicle retail sales in India witnessed a 10 per cent on-year jump in July driven by new model launches and enhanced discounts, industry body FADA said on Monday. Total passenger vehicle retail sales rose to 3,20,129 units in July, as compared to 2,90,564 units in July 2023. "Dealers reported benefits from good product availability, attractive schemes, and a wider range of products," the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) vice president C S Vigneshwar said in a statement.
The unemployment rate shot up to a record 10.9 per cent in the week that ended on December 18, points out Mahesh Vyas.
Lower income groups earning less than Rs 100,000 a year are yet to recover as are those earning between Rs 100,000 and Rs 200,000.
'The private sector believes that some enablers in labour-intensive sectors like apparel, toys, tourism, and media retail, can unlock a lot of jobs.'
Major two-wheeler (2W) manufacturers in India witnessed a single-digit decline in domestic sales in November after dispatches had picked up in October for the festive season when wholesales went up by 14 per cent and retail also grew by 36 per cent.
Despite the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance throwing all its weight to snatch Jharkhand from the hands of a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-headed coalition, the saffron camp suffered a debacle leaving the party's rank and file wondering what had gone wrong.
Retail inflation breached the Reserve Bank's upper tolerance level, soaring to a 14-month high of 6.21 per cent in October mainly on account of rising food prices. Inflation based on the consumer price index (CPI) was 5.49 per cent in September and 4.87 per cent in the year-ago month. Retail inflation trended below the RBI's upper tolerance band of 6 per cent since September last year.
Best monsoon in six years has spurred rural growth but urban scenario grim.
Keeping in mind the large scale exploitation of the common man across rural India, the Union government has come out with a novel rural banking plan to take all banking services to the doorstep of villagers.
Is this a shot at patriarchy under the classic tale of mistaken identities? Or a humorous coming-of-age feminist tale as seen in last year's Barbie, wonders Mayur Sanap.
As the rural areas account for more than 40% of the country's population, they need to receive at least 41.7 per cent of the doses to make vaccine administration more equitable, reports Ishaan Gera.
'I am very happy to see that the work is starting to bear some fruit now.'
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