The Modi government is notoriously honest about one fact: It does not listen to economists, observes Shekhar Gupta.
The Direct Taxes Code suffers from serious weaknesses.
Prices of food articles continued to rise over the previous week. Bajra and urad prices rose by two per cent each, and condiments and spices, arhar, and fruit and vegetables became more expensive by one per cent.
It could add to pressure on inflation, especially food inflation, which was already high, it said.
Gross value added and low investment activity by the private sector remain areas of concern
Inflation, remained in negative territory for the 7th month in May
These decisions were announced by food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his cabinet colleagues were briefed on the monsoon situation and Kharif sowing. Allaying fears of shortage of foodgrain, Pawar said, "Stock position is quite comfortable. We have sufficient stock position for 13 months in our kitty".
In 2009, when urban India was in the throes of a slowdown, with growth likely down to 6 per cent and shopping malls going empty, the electorate gave a clear thumbs up.
Temperature fluctuation can cause joint pain and long hours in an air-conditioned environment can only worsen these pains, says Dr Anil Arora.
However, risks to the outlook stems from possible sub-normal monsoon and higher crude oil prices (on account of the crisis in Iraq)," the Economic Survey 2013-14 tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
Food production in the current fiscal is likely to go down as sowing will be 20 per cent lower due to the weak monsoon, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday. Also, 161 districts have been declared drought-prone, he added.
In all, RBI has cut interest rates by 110 bps this year. But this has not yet led to a boost in economic activity. While the growth rate has slowed to a five-year low, consumer confidence is waning and foreign direct investment has plateaued.
The total number of people killed in flooding and landslides in the state this year has gone up to 76. While 50 people were killed in inundation, 26 died due to landslides.
According to Japanese financial services major Nomura, despite slowing external demand, the domestic growth cycle is improving.
However, economists warned that going forward monsoon could play truant; already processed food production is down 14.7 per cent in May and 27.2 per cent in the first two months of this fiscal. Though industrial growth in May was down from 4.4 per cent a year ago, it was quite encouraging as it was more than double the 1.2 per cent in April, when growth turned positive after being in negative territory almost every month since October 2008.
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'There were no airhostesses and stewards to bring us food, water and the news of when the journey would resume.'
The downward trend in prices might continue as demand is unlikely to recover in May. Moreover, increased production has also put pressure on prices of commodities.
'We flew all missions in the first part of the war at low levels; that is at 300 to 500 feet above the ground.' 'These sorties were no doubt stressful since the pilots and crew had to look out for birds and obstructions as well as enemy gunfire.'
Consumer prices were forecast to have risen 10.00 per cent annually last month, barely changed from the 10.09 per cent clocked in October.
The focus is likely to be on consolidation and improvement of existing rural-centric programmes to ensure their completion ahead of the next general elections in 2019, rather than announcement of new schemes. Sanjeeb Mukherjee and Arup Roychoudhury report.
Last week, the Union Cabinet decided to import 1.2 lakh tonnes of onions to improve the domestic supply and control prices, which touched Rs 100 per kg earlier this month.
RBI policy surely cannot impact agflation, in any case.
Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com shares a special two-in-one recipe for the traditional kori gassi and chicken sukka.
'The roadmap ahead seems very difficult especially in the rural areas where there is very poor infrastructure, vaccine reach and hesitancy.' 'These are a deadly cocktail for the next wave.'
The second half of June could be driven more or less by technical factors triggered by news flow from Greece, the US Federal Reserve and the monsoon. The technical picture seems bearish as of now, says Devangshu Datta.
For the entire UPA regime, from 2005-06 to 2013-14, the average annual farm growth according to the GDP back series data is 3.8 per cent, which too is higher than the first four years of the NDA, though these two periods aren't comparable because one spans nine years and the other four.
While aid pours in at various relief camps close to cities, those operating in remote areas are reportedly facing difficulty in getting essential supplies.
The RBI cut rates for third time in 2015 due to favourable economic conditions.
Government's food subsidy bill tends to rise in tandem with the MSP increase.
As of now, 1,77,500 people have been housed in over 351 camps, the chief minister said, adding food, and medical amenities were being provided to them by the government.
India's first quarter GDP growth print was 7.9 per cent y-o-y, primarily led by urban consumption demand
The United Nations and its partners are supporting the governments of India and Nepal in search-and-rescue operations and providing assistance to thousands of people displaced due to landslides triggered by monsoonal rains in the two countries.
The public sector banks are not in a position to cut rates because of their weak balance sheets and massive portfolios of non-performing assets, says Devangshu Datta.
He said the UPA had left the economy in a dire state, with Consumer Price Index and food inflation at double digit, Wholesale Price Index inflation around 6-7 per cent and growth prospects were limited.
Rajan addressed a group of investors in Boston on Thursday.
With rising global crude and food prices overshadowing celebrations of its four years in office, the UPA government on Thursday assured the people that it working toward containing inflation, which it hoped, would be moderated in the next 8-10 weeks.
