For the past one year, an overwhelming number of farmers have been camping at the Singhu border area of Delhi, braving by turns biting cold, monsoon rains, COVID pandemic scare and also accusations of 'creating obstructions,' but the spirt of solidarity has allowed them to soldier on against all odds.
The Reserve Bank's growth projection for next financial year is lower than 8-8.5 per cent projected by the finance ministry in the recent Economic Survey which was tabled in Parliament on January 31. Unveiling the bi-monthly policy, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said, "Recovery in domestic economic activity is yet to be broad-based, as private consumption and contact-intensive services remain below pre-pandemic levels."
The Reserve Bank's rate-setting panel, Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), began its three-day deliberations on Wednesday amid expectations of a status quo on benchmark rate mainly on account of uncertainty over the impact of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the fears of firming inflation may also refrain the MPC from tinkering with the interest rate in its bi-monthly monetary policy outcome to be announced on Friday. The RBI had kept key interest rates unchanged at the last MPC meeting held in April.
The tribal leader, India's youngest president at 64 and the first to be born after Independence, took oath of office in the name of god to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law'.
Senior officials, including those from a central team, were present during the night-long operation and a close vigil is being maintained on further movement of locusts, Katiyar said. Two fire brigade vehicles loaded with insecticide had been deployed in all four Jhansi tehsils besides six vehicles were kept ready at the district headquarter. Ten municipal employees with two insecticide spraying machines were posted in every block.
Maintaining a rapid pace of the vaccination drive and quickly bridging healthcare infrastructure gaps across both urban and rural areas would emerge as the most sustainable stimulus for durable recovery of the Indian economy, says a report by the department of economic affairs.
After a delayed start, the monsoon is advancing steadily.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday raised the retail inflation forecast for 2021-22 to 5.7 per cent due to supply side constraints, high crude oil and raw materials cost. The RBI in June had pegged the retail inflation estimate at 5.1 per cent for the current financial year. The RBI has the mandate to keep inflation in a band of 2-4 per cent, with a tolerance level of 2 per cent on either side.
The government on Wednesday raised the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy marginally by Rs 72 per quintal to Rs 1,940 per quintal for the 2021-22 crop year, while the rates of pulses, oilseeds and cereals were hiked substantially. Among the commercial crops, the MSP of cotton was increased by Rs 211 per quintal to Rs 5,726 for medium staple variety, and by Rs 200 per quintal to Rs 6,025 for long-staple variety of cotton for the 2021-22 crop year (July-June). The decision taken by the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will help farmers take a call on which kharif (summer) crop to grow as sowing picks with the spread of the Southwest monsoon in the coming weeks.
January inflation may undershoot RBI's 6% target.
RBI governor Das flags growth slowdown, deputy raises alarm on inflation
It is extremely crucial to keep your little one hydrated at all times, as an extended span of dehydration can lead to fatal outcomes, advises pediatrician Dr Satish Deopujari.
Insufficient rainfall will have a negative impact on the economy.
Though agriculture ministry officials are confident of a bumper harvest due to record increase in kharif acreage, experts and farmers said the on-ground situation in some crops is not that encouraging as incessant rains since the last few weeks and pest attack could impact the final yield.
Goyal said India has been recognised as brightest spot in the world in last five years.
Central Statistics Office has come out with GVA to measure growth.
Section 144 of CrPC, prohibiting assembly of five or more people at one spot, will be in force during the period, Thackeray had said, but refrained from terming the new curbs as a lockdown.
Rajesh Karkera journeys through verdant countryside to the little-explored pristine Lonar lake in eastern Maharashtra.
The drought of 2009 still haunts the India Meteorological Department.
With two more deaths, the fatalities due to flood this year has gone up to 18.
"The main risk stems from the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the south west monsoon in view of the rising probability of an El Nio event around July-August, and its implications for food inflation," RBI said, as it kept the status quo on key interest rate for the third time in a row.
There was a delay in sowing of kharif onion because of late arrival of monsoon and later floods in many states damaged the crop.
Wholesale price-based inflation eased to a nine-month low of 4.68 per cent in February, while retail inflation slowed to a 25-month low of 8.1 per cent.
Currently, the retail inflation is well below the RBI's comfort level. The government has asked the central bank to keep inflation in the range of 4 per cent.
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.
Prices of perishable items could spike in the near term.
Given that there are hundreds of players in the shadow banking space, it's hard to make a credible estimate of potential NPAs. That creates more scope for panic, says Devangshu Datta.
A portion of the 15-foot tall private compound wall, totally wet due to heavy rains lashing the area for the past few days, fell on the adjoining tiled-roof houses in Nadur village.
Concerned over possible fall in pulses production due to poor monsoon so far, the government is considering reintroducing its scheme to sell subsidised pulses through ration shops to give relief to common man from price rise.
While everyone raves about the joys of the monsoons, Keya Sarkar is not as enthusiastic.
The agriculture minister said the government's constant efforts are aimed at making farmers prosperous by increasing their income.
State Bank of India's house economists on Monday said the recent farm sector reforms reek of parochial thinking and promote lazy farming as they only cater to cereal-producing states. In the recently concluded monsoon session, the government rushed through three legislation to change the way agricultural produce is marketed, sold and stored by dismantling the decades-old APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) mandis.
Over to the government how they manage the uncertainty of monsoon and revive spending in order to entice RBI for another round of rate cuts
Costlier vegetables slowly pushed retail inflation, which had remained well within the Reserve Bank's comfortable level of 4 per cent during most part of 2019, peaked to more than three-year high of 5.54 per cent in November.
Experts feel oil prices will remain volatile with an upward bias.
55% of cultivable land still doesn't come under irrigation.
Moody's earlier this week lowered its growth forecast to 7 per cent, from 7.5 per cent.
In many parts of central and north India, monsoon reaches only in July.
Key risk for price rise is the 'deficient' monsoon that could lead to a pick-up in inflation expectations.
Of the total cash outgo Rs 40,000 crore is towards enhanced expenditure under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program and Rs 33,771.48 crore have been sought for direct benefit transfer under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and National Social Assistance Programme.
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