At 8 million a month, times two doses, it will take us 17 years to administer the vaccine to our 800 million adults. The rollout must speed up twenty times, asserts Naushad Forbes.
'There is a vision in the Budget, and the vision is to take India from a largely agrarian, rural economy into a fast-track digitalised economy.'
This was the one Budget that required radical departures on all these fronts, when it had none, asserts, Shreekant Sambrani.
If retrenched workers are unable to reskill within a fixed period of time, they will have to return the money given to them by the government. Moreover, they may be asked to pay back an interest on the sum transferred.
The Supreme Court has refused to interfere with the government and RBI's loan moratorium policy, and declined to extend the six-month loan moratorium period.
Drones are being used for carrying out a host of tasks like surveillance to ensure that people are maintaining social distancing, spreading awareness about COVID-19 in densely populated areas, spraying disinfectants and checking people's temperature
Pragmatism and flexibility is a virtue. An untethered and short-term approach to policymaking is a flaw, argues Mihir S Sharma.
In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said it has issued fresh guidelines for surveillance with regard to COVID-19 that will remain in force till January 31, as it asked the states and union territories to keep a strict vigil to prevent any rise in cases during the New Year celebrations and the winter season.
To help revive the economy battered by COVID-19, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced a slew of measures, including Rs 1.1 lakh crore credit guarantee scheme for improving health infrastructure, and enhancing the limit under the ECLGS by 50 per cent to Rs 4.5 lakh crore for the MSME sector facing liquidity crunch. Sharing the details of stimulus package, the finance minister said this comprises eight relief measures and other eight measures to support the economic growth. She announced Rs 1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for COVID-affected sectors, including health sector, which includes guarantee cover for expansion or for new projects. Besides, she said, additional Rs 1.5 lakh crore limit enhancement done for Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) scheme.
The government will create an EV Venture Capital Fund, for financial support to start-ups in the segment. The overall aim is to make Tamil Nadu the preferred destination for EVs and component makers.
The death toll rose to 5,394 after a record single-day spike of 230 fatalities in the 24 hours since Sunday 8 am, the Union Health Ministry said in its morning update. It showed the number of confirmed cases rising by 8,392 to 1,90,535. However, a PTI tally of figures announced by states and union territories, as of 9.35 pm, showed a higher death toll of 5,501.
Expect a more modest out-turn of around 5 per cent (if not less) because of the longer-term scarring effects of the Covid shock, the sharply slowing growth in the pre-Covid years and some scepticism about the growth-efficacy of some of recent official policy initiatives, explains Shankar Acharya, former chief economic advisor to the government.
Of the total cash outgo Rs 40,000 crore is towards enhanced expenditure under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program and Rs 33,771.48 crore have been sought for direct benefit transfer under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and National Social Assistance Programme.
In a two-part post, Tendulkar referred to a tweet he sent out in 2014, stating that his children do not have Twitter handles.
This upgrade will allow air operations by military and civil aircraft even in poor visibility and adverse weather conditions.
The 65-year-old passed away at around 8 pm at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences trauma centre which has been converted into a dedicated COVID-19 facility, sources at the hospital said.
The XUV100 will be launched in trendy colours like yellow and orange
As bank loans to MFIs are mostly unsecured, the Indian Banks Association had requested RBI in December to relax its restructuring guidelines for the MFI sector.
Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday slashed India's growth forecast for the current financial year to 9.3 per cent saying that the second wave of coronavirus infections hampers economic recovery and increases risk of longer-term scarring. Moody's, which has a 'Baa3' rating on India with a negative outlook, said obstacles to economic growth, high debt and weak financial system contrain sovereign credit profile. The US-based rating agency had in February forecast a 13.7 per cent economic growth for the current fiscal (April 2021-March 2022).
Long-term capital gains tax may be scrapped and the burden of dividend distribution tax could perhaps be shifted from companies to shareholders. Also, the Budget could provide income tax relief for the salaried classes, while proposing tax sops for small, medium and micro enterprises.
FMCG firms such as ITC, Parle Products, Marico, Emami, PepsiCo India and CG Corp Global on Wednesday assured uninterrupted supply of their products based on the learnings from the last year's lockdown, even as surge in COVID-19 cases in India forced Maharashtra to declare a 15-day curfew while other states also imposing various restrictions.
All public sector banks have moved to such a regime voluntarily, while private banks are yet to. The state-run banks have introduced repo-linked products for floating-rate home and auto loans, but the RBI said loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) should also be linked to an external benchmark.
Amazon
Like on Pegasus, like Covid, there have been no answers from the government about why the situation on the economy and India's future is where it is today, notes Aakar Patel.
The letter from the Uttar Pradesh veterans comes days after 23 senior Congress leaders wrote to Gandhi, saying uncertainty over the party leadership has 'demoralised Congress workers'.
The situation could become more acute as millions of migrants who had returned to their villages during the lockdown come back to the towns for higher wages and better livelihoods.
There are allegations that MFIs are charging exorbitant interest rates and using strong-arm tactics to recover the loans.
To minise wasteful administrative costs, number of enterprises in strategic sectors will ordinarily be only one to four; others will be privatised/merged/brought under holding companies, she said.
Work on a dozen decisions to start by next week.
This is first picture of 49-year-old Omar to have appeared in public domain after five months of captivity. It showed him smiling in a snow covered jacket and sporting an unkempt greyish beard.
The street-fighter attitude is what keeps Rane going even at 69. The expectation is -- at least in the BJP camp -- that he will be itching for a battle royale with the Shiv Sena in its bastions.
The government on Wednesday ordered Twitter to immediately take down handles and hashtags that suggested a farmer genocide was being planned, saying such misinformation and inflammatory content will incite passion, and impact public order.
International pop star Rihanna on Tuesday extended her support to the ongoing farmers agitation while criticising the Internet shutdown at the protest site.
The minister on Tuesday inaugurated a three national training programmes at the National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ni-msme) in Chennai.
State Bank of India, India's largest lender, on Thursday slashed interest rates on working capital loans to micro, small and medium enterprises by 0.5-1 per cent effective from December 16.
Rough estimates from plantation companies have pegged production loss in excess of 100 million kg (mkg) across India which is valued at around Rs 2000 crore. Usually, plantation companies in Assam and West Bengal produce around 15 per cent of the total tea during March-April.
While the meetings on Friday were preliminary discussions, it is learnt that sectors like tourism; hospitality; aviation; micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); and livestock have sought deferring loan repayments and temporary tax holidays in specific cases to help them tide over the steep fall in economic activity.
Around 40 per cent of the country is staring at drought-like conditions ahead of the monsoon as water levels have receded sharply.
A direct contest between nominees of the BJP-led NDA and Congress-headed Grand Alliance is on the cards in 20 constituencies
Far more important than governance is to ensure how different states get necessary representation a'The pressure to expand the council of ministers will come from states where the BJP has formed a government after ousting the Congress,' predicts A K Bhattacharya.
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