Despite fears of the Omicron variant, business activity touched an all-time high since the onset of the pandemic for the week ended December 12, a Japanese brokerage said on Monday. The Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI), which compares the activity for a particular week as against the one before the onset of the pandemic, rose to 115.8 from the 112.9 for the previous week. "Despite Omicron risks, neither policy restrictions nor public fear factor appear to have had any impact on mobility so far, which is supporting a further normalisation in services," it said in a statement.
A joint forum of central trade unions has given a call for a nationwide strike on March 28 and 29 to protest against the government policies affecting workers, farmers, and people.
The Chief Justice, while speaking at the farewell reference organised by the high court, said that judges are only interpreters and are not here to make the law or to evolve a policy and a balance has to be maintained between judicial activism and restraint.
There are conflicting signs on India's investment cycle.
Citing media reports, KPSS chief Sanjay K Tickoo claimed that the Hindus living in Kashmir wanted to leave the Valley but the government was not allowing them to do so.
Apple's newest phone iPhone 14 will be made in India as the global tech titan bets big on the manufacturing prowess of the world's second-biggest smartphone market after China.
This will be an area where bilateral or regional trade pacts may not be able to perform well.
Liquidity issues post the crisis at DHFL, progress of monsoon, rupee trajectory at the domestic level and oil prices are some factors that will keep markets choppy, analysts say.
Forex dealers said besides selling of the American currency by exporters and banks, gains in other Asian currencies against the dollar and a higher opening in the domestic stock market also supported the rupee.
The employment situation remains dire. Whatever can be done to promote greater low-skill employment should be pursued aggressively, advises former chief economic adviser Shankar Acharya.
Tamil Nadu is the celebrated home of the 'social justice' movement in the country, yet caste differences and violence has only been increasing in numbers and becoming more brutal in recent years, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Is self-reliance the right approach in a mega-buck game, or better to be part of a network? asks T N Ninan.
The Supreme Court Monday posed searching questions to the Centre on the COVID-19 vaccine procurement policy and need for mandatory registration on the CoWIN app for people to get vaccinated without keeping in mind the real 'digital India' situation, observing that the policy makers must have an ear to the ground.
Amid fears of a third wave of coronavirus pandemic and hardening of retail inflation, the Reserve Bank is likely to maintain status quo on interest rate and watch the developing macroeconomic situation for some more time before taking any decisive action on monetary policy. The RBI is scheduled to announce its bi-monthly monetary policy review on August 6 at the end of the three-day meeting -- August 4-6 -- of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). The RBI Governor-headed six-member MPC decides on the key policy rates.
India is much better placed today to deal with future waves of the pandemic relative to the first wave, RBI deputy governor Michael Patra said.
There was no clear winner between former chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Tuesday after the UK's prime ministerial candidates went head-to-head in their first television debate as finalists and clashed fiercely on their economic policies and tax plans.
His fresh attack came a day after he said the government is coming up with 'excuses' to stop the Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir yatra, which is currently in Haryana and will enter the national capital on Saturday.
How soon can India reach a point when there is no hidden underemployment and all who want work can find it at a fair wage and decent work conditions, asks Nitin Desai.
'Investors should hold equity assets for 3 to 5 years.'
'With 87 per cent of the votes counted, Ardern's center-left Labour Party has won 48.9 per cent of the vote, meaning her party looks likely to score the highest result that any party has achieved since the current political system was introduced in 1996,' CNN reported.
Modi govt must bring about reforms to kick-start big-ticket infra projects.
Eighteen months after the economy was battered by the Covid-induced lockdown, employment has not recovered to its pre-pandemic levels, points out Mahesh Vyas.
Nearly 25 million jobs could be lost worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic, but an internationally coordinated policy response can help lower the impact on global unemployment, according to a UN agency. In its preliminary assessment report titled 'COVID-19 and world of work: Impacts and responses', the International Labour Organization (ILO) calls for urgent, large-scale and coordinated measures across three pillars -- protecting workers in the workplace, stimulating the economy and employment, and supporting jobs and incomes.
Rishi Sunak tightened his grip on the race to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and British prime minister as he bagged 101 votes to again emerge as the winner of the latest voting round on Thursday.
Economist Abhijit Sen, a former Planning Commission member and one of the country's foremost experts on rural economy, died on Monday night. He was 72.
Banking operations across the country may be impacted on Thursday as some bank unions would be joining the one-day nationwide strike called by central trade unions. Ten central trade unions, except Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, will observe the nationwide general strike to protest against various policies of the central government. Many lenders, including IDBI Bank and Bank of Maharashtra, in regulatory filings on Wednesday said their normal working could be affected at the branches and offices.
'When you need to revive the economy, when you need to revive aggregate demand, you cut taxes.' 'But what's this government doing?' 'It's increasing taxes for the middle class and the vast majority of the poor on fuel, which has a ratchet effect on most other products.'
The Survey noted that while women account for almost half of India's population, their participation in labour market is almost one-third and has been declining.
'India is not so distant from years of high and entrenched inflationary expectations that it should start trying to play games with the economy the way the West's central bankers think they are entitled to,' argues Mihir S Sharma.
'The cracks I saw yesterday were the largest I have seen in my life. We are scared.'
Rationalisation of income tax slabs, infrastructure status for digital services and incentives to hydrogen storage as well as fuel cell development were some of the suggestions made by various stakeholders at the pre-Budget consultation meeting convened by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The customary pre-Budget consultation meetings were held with the finance minister virtually between December 15 and December 22, as per the finance ministry statement. More than 120 invitees representing seven stakeholder groups participated in eight meetings, scheduled during this period, it said.
'From the time India liberalised in the 1990s, the government has policies are for facilitating the growth of the manufacturing sector.' 'The policies were put in the hope that growth of the manufacturing sector will lead to increased employment,' points out Chidambaran G Iyer, Senior Fellow, Pahle India Foundation.
There is no sign of it losing popularity with a significant section of the voting population, which appears to be attracted to the party for identity reasons, observes Aakar Patel.
The post-mortem reports of the two Dalit minor sisters who were found hanging from a tree in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district confirmed that they were raped and strangulated, the police said on Thursday.
HR Guru Mayank Rautela offers practical advice.
The external environment has worsened further. While the Finnish economy entered into a recession, Swedish economic growth also dipped. The Finnish gross domestic product (GDP) dropped 0.6 per cent in October-December, 2022. It was the second quarter of negative growth, which is a technical definition of recession.
Most brokerages have maintained their Sensex and Nifty targets as they believe there is little room for further re-rating in the backdrop of weak earnings.
Eminent economist Arvind Panagariya has said India is on the cusp of returning to a high growth trajectory and voiced confidence that the country will become the world's third-largest economy by 2027-28. Currently, India is the fifth largest economy "so it's another five years.We are already in (the year) 2023. "So 2027-28, India should be the third-largest economy," Panagariya, Columbia University Professor and former Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, told PTI in an interview in New York.
If India wants to become a globally competitive manufacturing hub, it will have to rethink the notion that the traditional SMEs will form the manufacturing backbone, argues Prosenjit Datta.
Speaking at the RSS's annual Vijayadashami rally in Nagpur which was broadcast online and attended 50 swayamsevaks (volunteers) due to the COVID-19 guidelines, Bhagwat said when the Sangh says Hindustan is 'Hindu Rashtra', it does not have any political or power-centered concept in its mind.
