Aung San Suu Kyi may be freed soon, hope party activists.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, however, had said that stimulus measures need to continue till there is robust recovery in the developed world, which account for bulk of India's exports.
Ahluwalia's assessment of economic growth is marginally higher than 6.3 per cent projected by the Commission earlier.
Indian industry began this financial year on a strong foot, with robust growth of 17.6 per cent in April. This has surpassed analyst expectations and fuelled concerns of a rate hike by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
'The consecration of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya has demoralised them.' 'And, now it is reflecting in their individual reactions as they are losing hope to take on the BJP in 2024.'
The debate over remuneration of CEOs on Monday grew louder with Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia stating that company heads should not be paid 'indecent salaries'.
The Rs 67,700-crore (Rs 677 billion) revenue boost from the auction of 3G spectrum licences will help the government reduce its borrowings in the current fiscal, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
The Planning Commission on Monday lowered the target for construction of roads under the NHDP scheme to 2,500 km for the current fiscal from 3,165 km in the previous year, which was not met by the road ministry.
The Planning Commission on Monday set targets to augment the country's infrastructure this fiscal, including adding 20,359 MW of power generation capacity and 2,500 km of highways, its Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
India should learn to live with high energy prices for rapid economic growth, said Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia after two of the state-owned oil companies hiked petrol rates this week.
Indian economic growth had slowed down to 6.7 per cent during 2008-09 due to the impact of global financial crisis from average of 8.7 per cent in the previous five years.
"It is completely false. I don't know what is the basis of this. I am not a candidate. This is some speculative thing in the New York Times," Ahluwalia said.
A tweet in Malayalam by Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, soon after his meeting with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the Emirates, has gone viral on social media as several expatriate Malayalis shared it on their virtual platforms.
A good wheat crop this season is likely to ease the near double digit inflation in the next 2-3 months, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Wednesday.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday said the Reserve Bank's decision to tighten the money supply will not have any impact on growth and the economy would do better than 8 per cent expansion rate projected by the central bank.
The country's new home minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, today said he prefers a Congressman as his successor in the finance ministry, setting off speculation about the implication of his statement.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Tuesday said that poor monsoon will adversely impact farm production and trim economic growth.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said agriculture growth in the country cannot double without the involvement of the corporate sector.
In view of declining inflation and recessionary conditions, the Planning Commission expects industry to cut prices in the normal course to battle economic slowdown.
Though Beijing asserts the Dalai Lama's successor needs its approval, observers say it remains concerned as the present Panchen Lama, the number two spiritual leader who was appointed by it after unseating the boy nominated by the Dalai Lama, has not gained much traction in Tibet.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Ahluwalia on Tuesday ruled out any more stimulus package for industry as the Budget has given a substantial boost to the slowing economy.
The Planning Commission on Friday said that high inflation, primarily driven by rising food prices, is likely to ease in the next few months on the back of an expected good rabi crop.
Asked whether the improvement in the index of industrial production data, released today, indicates that the worst is over for industry, Ahluwalia said, "We do believe that the worst is over. (But) there is difference between the worst being over and getting back to robust growth.
The petroleum price hike triggered an uproar in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday with almost the entire Opposition staging a walkout after describing the decision as 'totally unwarranted' and demanding an immediate roll back. CPI- M leader Prasanta Chatterjee said the government had implemented the increase at a time when the country was in the grip of recession and demanded its withdrawal as the hike would only push up the prices of essential commodities.
The meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was attended by Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Industry leaders, including Ratan Tata, Rahul Bajaj, Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal, who are members of the council, also participated in the discussions.
Pearson owns various businesses, including the Financial Times Group, Pearson Education and the Penguin Group. Educomp is an education services provider, while Bangalore-based TutorVista is an online tutoring company.
"They (prices of petroleum products) should be linked to world prices," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told PTI when asked about the global crude prices now surging to about $70 a barrel.
"The word populist has negative overtones, but I am sure (the) finance minister will present a popular Budget. However, we should maintain the mystery of the Budget and you have to wait and see what comes out," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Alhuwalia said.
As the debate is on to decontrol fuel prices, the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Thursday said it would be a bad idea to continue with subsidies to keep oil prices subdued.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday apologised in both Houses of the legislature, as well as outside, for remarks made a day before on the importance of women's education to control population growth.
A day before the announcement of the inflation data for August, the Planning Commission said that the figures would remain high but would start declining in subsequent months to reach a level of 6 per cent by December-end.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday expressed confidence that in the years to come India could emerge as the fastest growing economy in the world, beating China as the nation has yet to achieve its full growth potential.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Alhluwalia has said that a person who can spend Rs 32 a day in urban India -- and Rs 26 a day in rural India -- is not poor and that he is above the poverty line.
Springing a surprise, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday picked Mohan Yadav, a leader of Other Backward Classes (OBC) and a three-time MLA, as the next chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, state party president VD Sharma said.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who has just resigned, on Monday remained non-committal on his prospects of becoming finance minister while describing reports on this as "speculation".
The government is likely to raise the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS)-- the amount of assistance provided by the Centre for Plan schemes-- by 15 per cent to Rs 2.60 lakh crore during 2010-11.
The meeting is likely to focus on removing impediments which are hampering implementation of the announced projects and policies which have been on the drawing board for long, official sources said. The social sector agenda of the prime minister includes pushing the Aam Admi Bima Yojana and Old Age Pension for the labour class, besides revamping Integrated Child Development Scheme and strengthening the public distribution system.
