'At a time when the economy is depressed, a pandemic is raging, and the Chinese are making noises on the border, the NRC could be resuscitated.'
'Rather than cutting and pasting from advanced economies, we should use basic economic principles to think about what is right for India at the stage of development at which we are,' says Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian.
'We completed Rs 17 trillion worth of projects in the first term and currently Rs 9 trillion worth of contracts are under construction.'
This crisis requires political sophistication and governance skills. This BJP has neither, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday elevated her nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee as the party's all-India general secretary, the second-most important post in the organisation, a senior leader in Kolkata said.
'These Harvard University-educated people, with knowledge limited to the small states there, apply it in a huge country like India, which is not practical at all.'
'This prime minister thinks he knows everything.' 'He has to consult, he has to talk and he has to mobilise the best people, but having seen him function, I have no expectations from him.'
India's economy has bounced back amazingly from the Covid-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown over the last one year, but it is not out of the woods yet, according to the World Bank, which in its latest report has predicted that the country's real GDP growth for fiscal year 21/22 could range from 7.5 to 12.5 per cent.
'"We have lost our jobs, we have lost our savings, we have been beaten up for being on the streets, we have walked for a thousand kilometres, we have seen our children starve or die because nobody came to help us".' 'For such people, the relationship with the government has gone,' notes Aakar Patel.
The company stated that it was taking steps for cost rationalisation across all businesses to maintain liquidity and due to a prolonged slowdown it had to take a few tough measures.
Financial globalisation - or ultra globalisation - has done more harm than good to the majority of economies, say Anshuman Gupta & Karunakar Jha.
Not all change is good, but this one is, applauds Shekhar Gupta.
The sectarian killings by hit-and-run groups have revived and sharpened communal fears among the victims while the Poonch encounter reveals how deep the terrorists have dug in without getting noticed in the porous border area, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
The UK's lockdown, which involves strict stay at home measures with movement allowed for limited urgent purposes only if "absolutely necessary" and for one form of daily exercise, came into force on March 23 after a televised address by Boris Johnson.
Varun Gandhi adds that communists always joke with him and say he is a "communist in the BJP".
Moody's Investors Service on Friday projected India's growth at zero per cent for the current fiscal and said the negative outlook on sovereign rating reflects increasing risks that GDP growth will remain significantly lower than in the past. The outlook also partly shows weaker policy effectiveness to address economic and institutional issues, it noted in the update to its November 2019 rating forecast.
The MPs voted in favour of the Queen's Speech by 323 votes to 309 with a majority of 14.
In his address to the nation on the eve of 73rd Republic Day, President Kovind noted that democracy, justice, liberty, equality and fraternity form the bedrock of India and stressed that the observance of Fundamental Duties mentioned in the Constitution creates the proper environment for the enjoyment of Fundamental Rights.
Modi had clearly not come to terms with the limits to a prime minister's powers, any prime minister's powers however strong numbers he may have in Parliament, observes Virendra Kapoor.
'The first year of the Modi government's second term has laid the roadmap for the future and we will embark on it with gusto,' promises Gopal Krishna Agrawal, the BJP's national spokesperson on economic affairs.
'No one realises that people with 90 days waiting period are shopping around which naturally increases the cost of hiring.'
The Modi government's array of economic policy has been impressive.
Shaktikanta Das said in Washington, DC, that there was nothing sacrosanct about the 25 bps rate cut and that monetary policy could be well served by calibrating the size of the policy rate to the dynamics of the situation, and the size of the change itself could convey the stance of policy.
HR Guru Mayank Rautela offers practical advice.
'The real problem of joblessness and democratic politics is happening here in India. And it is happening now, right before us.'
'Nothing will stop India's top three-four corporates who have become aggressive players in the agri-markets after Modi came to power from acting in concert to drive down at will the prices at which they buy from farmers.' 'These corporate houses have the wherewithal to purchase all the farm produce at low prices and store them for a long period of time.' 'Once the harvest season is over they will sell the same produce at higher prices.'
Make in India crucial for growth.
'By killing innocent people, they are using Sun Tzu's tactics of 'kill one, terrify thousands.'
'Inequality has been growing in the world. The virus has only amplified it.'
The strike, however, had no impact on production of auto majors Maruti Suzuki India, Hero MotoCorp, Honda Cars India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors and Hyundai Motors India as their plants in various parts of the country functioned normally.
Trade unions reiterate the call for countrywide general strike on September 2 against the "anti-worker and anti-people policies" of the government.
Stating that COVID-19 has not yet been contained in India, the rating agency in a statement said the government stimulus package is low relative to countries with similar economic impacts from the pandemic. "The COVID-19 outbreak in India and two months of lockdown -- longer in some areas -- have led to a sudden stop in the economy. That means growth will contract sharply this fiscal year (April 2020 to March 2021)," it said. "Economic activity will face ongoing disruption over the next year as the country transitions to a post-COVID-19 world."
There is a need for better computation of numbers so as to avoid overlaps and capture the net gains to the economy.
'Modi personally provides the higher direction of the ministry and the minister then works with bureaucrats on implementation,' points out Aakar Patel.
Subbarao said, short-term as well as medium-term prospects or Indian economy continue to be grim. Fiscal deficit is going to be much higher, the debt burden much larger and the financial sector will be in a worse shape.
IMF, which has also lowered its global economic growth forecast for 2016 and 2017 by a marginal 0.1 per cent to 3.1 and 3.4 per cent respectively, recommended six 'reform priorities' for India
Observing that India's worsening COVID-19 situation and the strict measures to contain it have hit the economy hard, the rating agency said productive capacity has been severely disrupted since the start of the pandemic.
'The answer for a quicker boost to growth is simple -- run a much larger deficit, use the resulting public resources to ensure adequate price support for agriculture, subsidise wage costs of MSMEs and accelerate public sector construction-intensive activities,' advises Nitin Desai.
The policy also asks for a suitable accreditation machinery to recognise institutions, professionals and services related to safety, health and environment at workplace.
Panagariya has advocated a more liberalised spending, arguing that greater capital expenditure could relax some of the infrastructure bottlenecks facing the country.
