'For the common man, the economic conditions are not going to get better.'
Pegging the cost of the covid-19 lockdown at USD 120 billion (approximately Rs 9 lakh crores) or 4 per cent of the GDP, analysts on Wednesday sharply cut their growth estimates and stressed on the need to announce an economic package. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which is scheduled to announce its first bi-monthly policy review on April 3, is set to deliver a deep rate cuts and it should also be assumed that the fiscal deficit targets will be breached, analysts said.
While most economies contracted in the second quarter of 2020, the Chinese economy grew by 3.2 per cent.
M&M was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, soaring around 7 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid, Infosys and ICICI Bank. On the other hand, HUL, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finance and ITC were among the laggards.
This includes an infrastructure push which may lead to the government spending more than its budgeted capital expenditure for 2020-21. There are also discussions on increasing the scope and quantum of direct cash transfers to the beneficiaries who need it the most.
'This encourages escapism through the politics and economics of nationalism, made worse by tribalism or nativism, the package accompanied inevitably by the erosion of institutional bulwarks and therefore State capture by powerful businessmen,' notes T N Ninan.
IIM-A saw 36 per cent jump in maximum domestic salary in 2018 placements this year.
India has received over USD 20 billion in FDI amid the coronavirus pandemic, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Tuesday, showcasing the country as one of the most attractive destinations for investment globally.
Highlights of Economic Survey 2020-21, tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday.
He alleged that the people of Madhya Pradesh were 'befooled' by the saffron party as there was no council of ministers or a health or home minister in place in the state amid the crisis due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The ancient temple town is famous for silk products crafted by its master weavers.
Economic growth is likely to plummet to a multi-decade low of 1.6 per cent in fiscal year 2020-21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing measures like lockdowns and social distancing, an American brokerage said on Wednesday in one of the bleakest forecasts on GDP yet. Indian policymakers have not been aggressive enough in their response till now to the crisis, and will need to eventually intensify their efforts, economists at Goldman Sachs said.
The economic costs now beginning to show up in the hard numbers are far worse than initial expectations.
The finance minister chaired a meeting through video conference with major private banks and NBFCs to ensure effective rollout of ECLGS and uninterrupted liquidity to Indian MSMEs in this difficult time.
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.
'We should not minimise the seriousness of Chinese encroachments because their perception is different.' 'Nor should we fall into the trap of accepting so-called 'buffer zones' in areas of overlapping claims. We cannot have buffer zones in our own territory,' asserts Ambassador Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary.
'Once the lockdown is lifted, we will see some pickup in demand.' 'And my sense is that it will be a long walk this time given that we have lost three months of economic activity.'
Hiring demand for the month of October 2021, witnessed a dip of 3 per cent, as compared to September 2021. However, job demand grew 9 per cent sequentially in the past six months showing an optimistic outlook to recovery, said the Monster Employment Index. There has also been a strong year-on-year recovery with a 9 per cent uptick in October 2021 (Oct 2021 vs Oct 2020).
The central government has mandated all ministries, public departments and public sector units to use the telecom services of State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his engagements in the US on Thursday by meeting with leading American CEOs from five different key sectors and highlighted the economic opportunities in India.
IT and IT-enabled services will be allowed to operate with essential minimum staff only while the rest would work from home.
Many political detainees have been released but former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, who were whisked into custody in the early hours of August 5, 2019, are still in preventive detention.
But it may come with a downside risk of further rise in prices of several products.
Gadkari said, infrastructure sector including highways, airports, inland waterways, railways, logistic parks, broad gauge and metro, apart from MSMEs can attract large scale foreign investment.
Unpaused: Naya Safar holds on to a light-at-the-end-of-a-tunnel thought and looks at the pandemic-afflicted people from all walks of life through the prism of optimism in five poignant stories, notes Sukanya Verma.
Its economy dependent on tourist arrivals, the hill state is looking at a summer of discontent. Not that the rest of the year promises to be any different. Ashwani Sharma reports from Shimla.
As the Centre pushes reforms in the power sector, especially for the beleaguered electricity distribution segment, several states, especially those ruled by Opposition parties, are clamouring against it. Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerela have voiced their reservations against the proposed amendments to the Electricity Act, 2003. The irony is the states opposing the amendments on the ground of threat of privatisation already have private partnerships in power supply. The proposed Bill was slated to be placed on the floor of Parliament in the Monsoon session. But it still awaits Cabinet approval amid several states complaining that they have been not consulted on the issue.
Foreign Direct Investment into India rose by 13 per cent in 2020, boosted by interest in the digital sector, and while fund flows "declined most strongly" in major economies such as the UK, the US and Russia due to the Covid-19 pandemic, India and China "bucked the trend", the UN has said.
Key stimuli of the government's relief package will be a tax break on jet fuel, waiver of parking and landing charges at airports for the next six months and deferment of payment to oil companies by three months.
Britain has finalised 1 billion pounds worth of new trade and investment with India, creating over 6,500 jobs in the UK, to be signed off at a virtual summit between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Tuesday. The investments confirmed by Downing Street on Monday evening form part of an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP), which will set the ambition to double the value of UK-India trade by 2030 and declare a shared intent to begin work towards a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA). "Like every aspect of the UK-India relationship, the economic links between our countries make our people stronger and safer," Johnson said.
Trains were set afire and blocked, and public vehicles attacked as protests over 'Agnipath' swept across several places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu on Thursday amid partisan political voices in favour and against the new recruitment scheme for the defence forces that has set off a firestorm.
The dangerous thing about the present situation is that the government is complacent enough to not realise that we are in the midst of a protracted economic slowdown, Singh said.
Of the amount, the home-grown private equity player founded by Renuka Ramnath plans to deploy $8 billion in various companies as part of its blueprint for growth.
Without strong storage facilities, bumper harvest has resulted in price crash
The IMF on Tuesday cut India's economic growth forecast by 0.5 percentage points to 9 per cent for the current fiscal year, with its chief economist Gita Gopinath saying that the slight downgrade is mainly due to the impact of the spread of the Omicron variant. "If you look at the 2021-22 fiscal year, we have a slight downgrade of -0.5 percentage points and for the next fiscal year 2022-23 we have a slight upgrade of 0.5 percentage points. So, growth for the previous fiscal year is now nine per cent and for this year now is at nine per cent. We moved it up slightly," Gopinath told reporters during a news conference in Washington. In its latest update of World Economic Outlook on Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund has cut India's economic growth forecast to 9 per cent for the current fiscal year ending March 31, joining a host of agencies which have downgraded their projections on concerns over the impact of the spread of Omicron on business activity and mobility.
Job postings activity in April witnessed 3 per cent decline sequentially as the country is hit with the second wave of the pandemic leading to lockdowns, according to a report. The data indicates that the employment index saw a decline in job posting activity in April compared to March, by 3 per cent, according to the Monster Employment Index. The overall job postings also witnessed a decline of 4 per cent year-on-year as of April 2021, compared to April 2020.
The industry may account for just 0.05 per cent of the total volume of single-use plastics in the country. And the product it uses is just one among the 22 - including spoons, forks, plates, knives and trays - that will be banned across the country from July 1 by government order. Yet, it is the plastic straw that is at the centre of public focus as fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies make a last-ditch effort to get the government to extend the deadline.
A candidate with good communication skills, critical thinking and problem solving abilities will have a higher chance of being hired.
The proposal may provide relief to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore to service providers.
'It is entering growth territory on a month-on-month basis.'
