The ministry of finance is likely to assume crude oil price to remain within $85 per barrel while estimating subsidies for the Interim Budget 2024-25 (FY25), to be presented on February 1. Brent crude prices moved up on Thursday, ending at $78.9 per barrel. Crude oil and cooking gas prices, which move in tandem, impact fertiliser and cooking gas subsidies, constituting 53 per cent of the government's total subsidies.
Posthumous sperm retrieval during normal times can be done at the request of a widow without any need for legal bureaucracy, but parents who want their dead son's sperm to be retrieved and preserved must obtain an order from a family court.
The country's imports from Russia almost doubled to $25.69 billion during the April-August period this fiscal due to increasing inbound shipments of crude oil and fertiliser, according to the commerce ministry data. With this, Russia has become India's second-largest import source during the first five months of this fiscal. The imports were $13.77 billion during April-August 2022.
Confident of securing a massive majority in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday outlined his vision for his next five-year term saying the Modi 3.0 government will put all its might to strengthen the foundation of 'Viksit Bharat' or a developed nation.
RIL has proposed to charge the government- fixed rate for natural gas on a gross calorific value (GCV) basis, instead of net calorific value (NCV).
India's imports from Russia rose by about 67 per cent to $30.42 billion during the April-September period this fiscal on higher shipments of crude oil and fertiliser, according to the commerce ministry data. With this, Russia has become India's second-largest import source during the first half of this fiscal. The imports were $18.24 billion during April-September 2022.
Production of eight infrastructure sectors increased by 5.4 per cent in November against a 3.2 per cent growth in the same month last year on a better show by coal, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity segments, according to the official data released on Friday. Crude oil, natural gas and refinery products, however, recorded negative growth in November this year. The production growth of eight key sectors slowed down to 0.9 per cent in October.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said a convict does not become a lesser citizen only due to his incarceration and, in the present case, where the "biological clock" of the convict and his partner may become a barrier for them to conceive once the sentence got over, the fundamental right to have a child "cannot be deemed to be surrendered in favour of the State".
The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors rose to a 14-month high of 12.1 per cent in August 2023 against 4.2 per cent a year ago, mainly due to expansion in production of coal, crude oil, and natural gas, according to the official data released on Friday. The expansion in August is the highest since June 2022, when it was 13.2 per cent. The production of refinery products, steel, cement and electricity also grew in August, the data showed.
The government will formulate a strategy to make India self-reliant in edible oils by boosting domestic output of oilseeds and launch a comprehensive programme to support dairy farmers, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Thursday. India imports a large quantity of edible oils to meet the domestic demand. During the 2022-23 marketing year (November-October), the country imported nearly 165 lakh tonnes of cooking oils, valuing a whopping Rs 1.38 lakh crore.
Production of eight infrastructure sectors expanded by 7.9 per cent in September -- the highest in three months -- on account of better show by coal, fertiliser, cement and electricity segments, according to official data released on Monday. In September last year, the growth rate stood at 5.4 per cent. It was 4.1 per cent in August. The previous high was in June when the output expanded by 13.1 per cent.
If Modi wants to leave a real legacy, breaking India's strategic triangulation would be the real gift, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Parents who give their daughters-in-law a hard time for not being able to fulfil their desire of "preserving their family tree", need to be educated that it is their son and not his wife whose chromosomes will decide the child's gender, the Delhi high court has observed.
The RSS chief also noted that those who eat non-vegetarian food in India follow rules and desist from eating it during the Hindu month of Shravan and on Thursdays.
The growth rate in the production of eight key sectors slowed down to a 20-month low of 0.1 per cent in October on account of contraction in the output of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, and cement, according to the official data released on Wednesday. In October last year, these sectors expanded by 8.7 per cent. In September this year, the core sectors' output growth stood at 7.8 per cent.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the government is keeping an eye on inflation which is purely "extraneous" nowadays because of fuel and fertiliser prices. Replying to the debat on the Supplementary Demands for Grants in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said wholesale inflation has fallen to a 21-month low. Later, the Rajya Sabha returned the Supplementary Demands for Grants to the Lok Sabha, thus completing the process of authorising the government to spend an additional Rs 3.25 lakh crore in FY2022-23.
Whether this remains under control in the coming months will depend on the future intensity and spread of the Russia-Ukraine war, and the effectiveness of the Indian government's response, points out A K Bhattacharya.
Growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to 8.2 per cent in June 2023 compared to the year-ago month due to a decline in the production of crude oil, according to the official data released on Monday.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced a Rs 11.11 lakh crore spending on infrastructure and vowed to continue reforms as she resisted resorting to populist measures in Modi government's last Budget before general elections, instead choosing to stay on the path of cutting deficit while bolstering measures for focus groups.
According to the third batch of supplementary demands for grants tabled in the Lok Sabha, approval is being sought for gross additional expenditure of over Rs 1.58 lakh crore.
Pre-Budget excercise next month should scrupulously avoid adventurism of all types and refrain from making excessively ambitious projections on revenue and expenditure numbers for 2023-24, suggests A K Bhattacharya.
Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress alleging that the opposition party has become outdated and has always been against any kind of reservation.
The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to 4.3 per cent in May 2023 due to a decline in the production of crude oil, natural gas and electricity, according to the data released by the government on Friday. The core sector growth was 19.3 per cent in May 2022, while in April 2023, the key infra sectors recorded a growth rate of 4.3 per cent. During April-May this fiscal, the output growth of these eight sectors slowed down to 4.3 per cent against 14.3 per cent in the year-ago period, the data showed.
Dr Shreekant Sambrani pays tribute to M S Swaminathan, renowned agricultural scientist and a lifelong crusader against hunger who passed away in Chennai recently.
'I'm pitching India for the strengths we offer, including the English language, engineers, doctors, nurses, professionals, innovative talent of startups.'
Priyanka was addressing a rally to canvass for the Congress candidate in the Datia assembly seat of Madhya Pradesh, which will go to polls on November 17.
Exports contracted by 2.6 per cent to $34.47 billion in September even as the country's merchandise trade deficit narrows to $19.37 billion during the month under review, according to the government data released on Friday. Easing commodity prices helped in cutting down the country's import bill by 15 per cent to $53.84 billion in September, the 10th consecutive month of decline. During April-September this fiscal, exports contracted by 8.77 per cent to $211.4 billion.
It is thanks to the policy of liberalisation conceived by Manmohan Singh and enforced by P V Narasimha that the Indian economy has now become the world's 5th largest economy by nominal GDP, asserts Dr Sudhir Bisht.
If the Budget makes no big announcements on new schemes, projects, or tax giveaways, the government would face a major political dilemma as it may have to reluctantly consider shunning the practice of unveiling pre-election sops to woo voters, notes A K Bhattacharya.
Production of eight infrastructure sectors recorded an almost flat growth rate of 6 per cent in February as against 5.9 per cent in the same month last year, according to official data released on Friday. The growth in February is lowest in the last three months. The output of core sectors had increased by 8.9 per cent in January 2023 and 7 per cent in December 2022.
The output of eight core infrastructure sectors grew 3.3 per cent in August -- the lowest in nine months -- as against 12.2 per cent in the year-ago period, according to official data released on Friday. The previous low was in November 2021 at 3.2 per cent.
The deficit stood over Rs 8 trillion in the first seven months of the current financial year. Non-tax revenues, comprising transfers from the RBI and dividends of the public sector units, shored up the Centre's revenues.
Addressing the media alongside Modi, Meloni said Italy hoped that India, during its G-20 presidency, plays a central role in facilitating and negotiating the process for cessation of hostilities in Ukraine.
Led by healthy growth in coal, crude oil, fertilisers, cement and electricity production, output of eight core industries grew to a 13-month high of 18.1 per cent in May this year, according to official data released on Thursday. The growth of core infrastructure sectors expanded by 16.4 per cent in the year-ago period and 9.3 per cent in April this year. The last high growth was recorded in April 2021 when it was 62.6 per cent.
The output of eight core infrastructure sectors contracted to six-month low of 4.5 per cent in July against 9.9 per cent in the year-ago period, according to official data released on Wednesday. The output of these infrastructure sectors expanded by 13.2 per cent in June, 19.3 per cent in May, 9.5 per cent in April, 4.8 per cent in March, 5.9 per cent in February and 4 per cent in January. The production growth of eight infrastructure sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity -- was 11.5 per cent in April-July this fiscal against 21.4 per cent a year ago.
India must be prepared to deal with climate disasters, geopolitical confrontations, and social strife linked to global events, asserts Jayant Sinha, chairman of Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance.
The production growth of eight infrastructure sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity -- was 19.3 per cent in May 2022, the data showed. In June, the output of coal, refinery products, fertiliser, cement and electricity rose by 31.1 per cent, 15.1 per cent, 8.2 per cent, 19.4 per cent, and 15.5 per cent, respectively.
'Its people are either victims of corruption or witnesses to it.'
On March 13, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary had tabled the second batch of supplementary demands for grants in the House amounting to a total of Rs 2,70,508.89 crore.
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