It is rare for Cabinet ministers to tick off state-owned companies publicly, yet that was what then petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan did for ONGC. Speaking at an event on June 29, Pradhan said he has asked India's premier exploration company to find fresh oil acreages fast. "Do it yourself through some joint venture (or) through a new business model. But the government cannot permit you to hold resources for an indefinite time." The reason for this stricture is India's rising dependence on imported oil and gas. Or, to put it another way, falling domestic production (see chart: "Crude truth"), especially from ONGC, which faces a simple problem.
But use of that word -- privatisation -- is not encouraged. This seems to be a classic case of reforms through subtle signals, observes A K Bhattacharya.
Reserve Bank will hold its first bi-monthly monetary policy review for 2016-17 on Tuesday.
Replying to a question during the debate on the General Budget in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Mukherjee said he was expecting a double-digit inflation rate in March itself. The general inflation was at 9.89 per cent in February.
Charging that the Budget had ignored the 'aam aadmi', on Thursday said the government failed miserably to address price rise and inflation that would bring down the economic growth rate.
So vaccinate employees and families, staff at home, rickshaw drivers, milkmen, service providers, shopkeepers and street vendors, says Naushad Forbes.
The price for pushing the envelope beyond the comfort zone that the land of storytelling is used to is a hefty one, observes Meghna Chadha.
Chandrakant Khaire said his party -- the partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the National Democratic Alliance - was not consulted on the decision of NDA MPs sacrificing 23 days pay to protest the disruptions in Parliament.
The Budget session of Parliament, the first of the Narendra Modi government, ended on Thursday reflecting the changed political reality with fewer disruptions and adjournments, and more debates and discussions unlike in the recent past.
Ajit Doval is now India's all-powerful security boss. This concentration of power disrupts our layered security system. Will it not weaken whatever remains of the power and authority of the home, defence and finance ministers? asks Shekhar Gupta.
Pakistan has raised a 25,000-strong special force and put in place extensive measures to protect and manage its strategic assets, including its nuclear arsenal, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said.
The government on May 17 formed a five-member committee.
'I think there must be some sort of a nexus between the rioters and a section of police officials which resulted in gruesome killings and arson'
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Wednesday that police officer Sachin Vaze will be removed from the Crime Branch and posted in some other department.
Lok Sabha passed the Finance Bill, after approving more than two dozen official amendments, by voice vote, thus completing the Budgetary exercise for 2019-20 in the Lower House.
Nationalisation has served its purpose. It's time to move ahead, keeping majority ownership of the government in a few banks to serve the people, argues Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Inflation, particularly of food items, too remained an area of concern, they said in the resumed discussion on the general Budget. Main Opposition BJP said the whopping Rs 4 lakh crore (Rs 4 trillion) gap in the resources was a matter of concern and the impact could be felt on inflation.
Expressing hope for a responsible dialogue and debate in the Budget session, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Thursday appealed to all political parties to help conduct smoothly the Parliament.
Against the backdrop of the Lok Sabha results, a much larger scale of desertion was anticipated from the TMC. 'It seems, people don't believe that the ship is sinking.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday termed the hike in rail fares as "unprecedented and anti-people" and demanded its roll back in the interest of common people.
The state of the economy did not deteriorate so sharply in the last eight days that the principles behind not announcing changes in tax rates in an Interim Budget had to be set aside. Nor can it be argued that the demand from industry and members of Parliament for some stimulus measures became so irresistible that the finance minister had to announce the tax rate changes in his reply to the Interim Budget debate.
Global experience in allowing corporate groups to set up banks reveals that stringent regulation is the best defence against malpractice.
The Congress, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and other opposition parties had wanted to raise several issues in the Upper House but Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu did not allow them and adjourned the House till 2 pm. After the Chair did not allow them again when the House met, they boycotted it for the rest of the day.
However, the Republicans are unlikely to opt for this, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
Rumours in the bureaucracy on his successor include the names of Sajjid Chinoy of JP Morgan, Rathin Roy of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Neelkanth Mishra of Credit Suisse and the principal economic advisor, Sanjeev Sanyal.
Despite the Oscars, the box office glory, and the universal acclaim, Francis Ford Coppola, I am sure, remembers The Godfather with as much frustration as pride. Like Michael Corleone, he got into it with the best of intentions, and got out of it on top but lost in the heights. Sreehari Nair revisits the film as it turns 50 this month.
A key United States Congressional Committee on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a bill that imposes conditions on Pakistan for receiving American economic and military aid which will depend on the action Islamabad takes against terrorists and the menace of improvised explosive devices.
Interview with first woman president of the Ficci country head of HSBC India.
Seeking to dispel fears over the state of economy, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said the country will return to high growth of 7 per cent in two years and promised adequate public spending to stimulate it.
'I think governments -- whether this one or the ones earlier -- have not understood the strength of the Indian Railways... that it can easily add 2.5 per cent to GDP.'
An equitable tax regime makes more sense than debates over whether the rich should pay more.
While the Congress will go on fast on April 9, BJP MPs will go on a day-long fast on April 9.
As the House took up the debate on Motion of Thanks on the President's Address, the Bharatiya Janata Party launched a frontal attack on opposition parties specially the Congress for their stance against the CAA, saying they were trying to divide the nation.
The fiscal deficit in current fiscal has been estimated at 3.9%.
For the fourth day, the Lok Sabha House fails to take up trust vote notices.
Restoration of Customs duty on crude oil & rollback of exemptions likely.
'It is almost certainly wrong in assuming that the Modi government will use its strong mandate to undertake some serious reform measures.' 'For it is fairly clear that the government's priorities lie elsewhere, in the powerful home minister's domain,' notes T N Ninan.
PM Narendra Modi hopes the successful "rains" of GST will fill the Monsoon session with pleasant smell like that emanating from dry soil after showers.
Giving priority to one's ideology over national interest has harmed the democratic system of the country a lot, Modi said in his address to students after unveiling the statue through video conferencing.
Former Law Minister Ram Jethmalani today asked the Government to produce all documents and correspondence for agreements with various countries to bring back black money stashed away abroad.
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