Day 1 of the relaxations saw scores of people hitting the roads in their four wheeelers and two wheelers in various parts of the state, including coronavirus hotspots, and there was confusion galore over the easing of nroms.
Welcoming the latest round of stimulus announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, experts said the measures will support the economic recovery boosting demand, job creation and by providing funds to the MSME and stressed sectors. The fiscal impact of the stimulus is likely to be around 0.25-0.6 per cent of GDP in the current fiscal, they said.
Lockdown relaxations by Kerala amounts to dilution of its lockdown guidelines, says the Union home ministry.
Fitch Ratings director Thomas Rookmaaker said India's debt-to-GDP ratio is likely to rise to 76 per cent from 70 per cent currently due to wider fiscal deficit and low economic growth.
Iron ore deposits in the Donimali mine are estimated at 143 million tonnes and worth around Rs 40,000 crore. NMDC had leased the mine in 1968 for a period of 50 years. The lease expired on November 3, 2018.
The government on Friday proposed setting up a Rs 5,000 crore venture fund with SIDBI to enhance availability of equity to micro, small and medium enterprises.
Spurring the economy, currently in the throes of a slowdown, remains the prime focus for most ministries, but the government is also looking to make women's welfare and environmental protection key to policymaking in this term.
Exports of petroleum products, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, and engineering goods registered a positive growth.
Relations with the government, the bank's majority owner, are a tricky issue for all SBI chiefs, and, like all his predecessors, Khara will be closely watched for his equations with the finance ministry representative on the SBI board.
'We have been telling the government that we need handholding.' So, we sent a series of recommendations to the government, but nothing happened.' 'And the condition of industry became worse.'
'Neither farmers nor farm labourers will benefit from these jumla announcements of the finance minister'
The employers, many of whom had virtually abandoned the migrant labourers, are sending them train and even flight tickets to fetch them back as factories whir back to life, construction activities pick up and the sowing season sets in.
The government and the farmers must come back to the negotiating table with only the interest of the country in mind, suggests Vivek Gumaste.
The government, in collaboration with the UN-body World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), has commissioned a study to ascertain whether India's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are prepared to adopt the global IPR regime.
The minister on Tuesday inaugurated a three national training programmes at the National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ni-msme) in Chennai.
According to a communication by the ministry to the heads of PSBs, it will be a bottom-up consultative process from the branch level onwards which will involve discussions at the branch or regional level, state level and national level.
'We will resist it.' 'Farmers will not let that happen.'
The proposal is being piloted by the nodal ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises which wants to ensure that all the KVIC products enjoy credibility.
Listing of LIC will help bring in greater transparency, public participation and also deepen the equity market.
'Without reviving employment, consumer confidence will not go up.'
Moody's Investors Service on Friday said India's economy is expected to contract for the first time in more than four decades saying economic damage owing to the coronavirus-induced lockdown will be significant with lower consumption and sluggish business activity. Even before the coronavirus outbreak, Indian economy already was growing at its slowest pace in six years and with the stimulus measures announced by the government falling short of expectations, the disruptions are likely to be greater. "We now expect India's growth to register a real GDP contraction for the fiscal year ending in March 2021 (fiscal 2020-21), from our earlier projection of zero growth," it said in a research note.
'We see the defence industry as one of the leading sectors, which will significantly contribute to the growth of the Indian economy, but more importantly, bring atmanirbharta to national security.'
When Nitin Gadkari was president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the party had announced it would set up a separate ministry for handlooms and handicraft. Instead of doing that, the BJP government has abolished the only institution that took into account the voice of the weavers.
'Infusion of fresh capital, handsome growth in deposits and focus on recovery should bring Yes Bank back on the growth path in the next financial year,' observes Tamal Bandyopodhyay.
The ban in India would hit Chinese internet companies that were making headway in the world's fastest-growing mobile market.
Stressed MSME borrowers would be eligible for restructuring of debt, if their accounts were classified standard.
'The way opposition parties such as the Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena, the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Jharkhand Mukti Morch have supported her, if she wins, she will be the biggest opposition face for 2024'
'India is nowhere near the peak of the infection given its large population of 1.3 billion'
PSB chiefs tried to argue that liquidity is in surplus in the system and the problem was related to lack of demand in the economy, instead of banks' reluctance to lend, but 'the FM said it is a perception issue that loan is not available, which we need to dispel,', reports Somesh Jha.
The budget will empower the poor, give a boost to the farmer and an impetus to the economic growth, the PM said.
'In 2016, we had De-Mon and in 2017, we had GST.' 'The combined impact of these two started showing up in 2019 and 2020.' 'COVID-19 only added insult to injury.'
Long-term capital gains tax may be scrapped and the burden of dividend distribution tax could perhaps be shifted from companies to shareholders. Also, the Budget could provide income tax relief for the salaried classes, while proposing tax sops for small, medium and micro enterprises.
With his strong views on Bharatiya economics, his appointment to the RBI board may well presage interesting times, says Archis Mohan.
Gandhi said if money is not given in the hands of the poor and small and medium industry, there could be "serious economic damage" in the country.
'He spoke about 20 jawans in Ladakh, but he couldn't even name China.' 'He said the world had seen what had been achieved, even though we Indians don't know because Modi has himself said that nothing had happened and nobody had come,' points out Aakar Patel.
The current slowdown has lasted for over 18 months and is the longest incident of sluggishness since 2006.
The Industries Association of Uttarakhand, an organisation of MSMEs, has prepared an agenda for the Budget.
Globally, the focus has moved back to India, especially in terms of telecom assets. Vodafone Idea, with some 300 million customers, continues to be attractive with shares available at a low price.
Modi, after delivering his sixth straight address to the nation on Independence Day from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi, went into a brainstorming session with Sitharaman and all top officials in her ministry, sources privy to the development said. T
While the meetings on Friday were preliminary discussions, it is learnt that sectors like tourism; hospitality; aviation; micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); and livestock have sought deferring loan repayments and temporary tax holidays in specific cases to help them tide over the steep fall in economic activity.
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