In the mid-1980s, India and the US struggled to arrive at sufficient confidence for Washington to even sell a supercomputer to India for monsoon prospecting. Now, the most sensitive military technologies, data, and intelligence resources are being shared. This would not have happened without that one, big deal that changed the fundamentals of India-US relations, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Planning Commission, on Thursday, expressed reservations on Kelkar Committee proposal to bring processed foods under excise duty net saying it will badly affect growth in the sector.
Amid India slipping to 134th spot in the ease of doing business ranking of 189 nations, Planning Commission member Arun Maira on Tuesday said "merely making comparisons" is not enough to improve business conditions.
'This updated NPR database along with Aadhaar Number would become the mother database and can be used by various government departments...' the home ministry declared in July 2015. 'UID/Aadhaar has been used as a fish bait to ensnare and entrap present and future generations of citizens,' warns Gopal Krishna.
Slamming the Planning Commission over its controversial definition of poverty, the BJP on Friday dubbed it a "conspiracy" hatched by the body and the Centre to deprive a large number of poor people of benefits under various welfare programmes.
The Planning Commission on Wednesday said that one of its expert groups has suggested rolling out of cashless health and portable universal health coverage (UHC) across the country by 2017.
The move was being made considering the poor flight services in the region comprising Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, Planning Commission member B K Chaturvedi said.
Asked whether growth was responsible for rising prices, Ahluwalia replied, "I don't agree that whenever you have (high economic) growth then you have inflation."
Over 4,000 ancient monuments managed by the state archeology departments will get professional and financial help for the first time from the Archaeological Survey of India.
Kannada writer U R Ananthamurthy, who had said that he would leave the country if Narendra Modi becomes the prime minister, on Monday said those remarks were made when he was "overcome by emotion" and clarified that he had no such plan, though he continues to oppose the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Farm activists say low MSP is fine, if salaries revised under the Sixth Pay Commission are lowered.
While there is pressure on the Reserve Bank of India to cut policy rates to spur stagnating industrial growth rates, Pronab Sen, principal advisor to the Planning Commission, says the central bank should exercise caution till it is sure inflationary expectations are under control.
'When you forgive a farmer's loans there is this ideological economists lobby which says: 'That's socialism. And that's bad'.' 'But to forgive the loans of big people, so that they will be interested to invest further is capitalism and is good.'
India may end the financial year with a seven per cent GDP growth rate, as the economic deceleration is expected to continue in the third quarter, said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.
The Planning Commission's de-linking entitlement benefits for the poor from the Suresh Tendulkar committee's recommendation on determination of poverty has left a big question mark on the number of beneficiaries to be covered under the proposed Food Security Act.
'Second-generation neoliberal policies, coupled with multiple failures on the food front, could do to the UPA what India Shining did to the NDA in 2004,' says Praful Bidwai.
This is essential to promote investment in essential infrastructure such as Power. Any additional burden will only pass on to the end consumer.
Maharashtra is facing trouble on two fronts: economic development and fiscal management.
When India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma met his counterpart in Beijing last year, he spoke mainly about India's yawning trade deficit and China agreed that this was a problem that needed fixing.
The question is how to genuinely assess the felt needs of citizens who are below a decent way of living, based on their consumption of food and arrangement for housing.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday proposed collaboration between India and China in global fora like World Trade Organisation and G-20 and in the financial sector, as top planners of the two countries had a "productive" round of talks at the first Strategic Economic Dialogue in Beijing.
Defending the government's decision to open up the multi-brand retail sector to foreign investment, Plan panel deputy chief Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Friday said it would help farmers as well as consumers.
Inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index, had stood at 7.47 per cent in December 2011.
"The performance of the public part of the (PPP) project should be subject to proper scrutiny but obviously where the private sector (is given) flexibility ... you cannot subject that to CAG scrutiny," Montek Singh, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman said when asked whether there is case for CAG scrutiny of PPP projects.
The working group on food and public distribution constituted under the chairmanship of Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia is likely to recommend using the numbers effectively for streamlining PDS.
Trade unions have to become much less relevant to India's future if we have to recognise that job-creation is more important than job preservation, says TeamLease CEO Manish Sabharwal.
The Congress on Monday supported Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's statements for a "reasoned debate" on the Lokpal Bill and that there is a "lot of scope for give and take" on the issue.
"Attempts should be made to curtail growth of subsidies to achieve nine per cent growth. We are trying to achieve nine per cent growth. Though there are major challenges like global slowdown, we will achieve the target," Singh said.
NITI Aayog spent a considerable time on restructuring the setup.
He was speaking to reporters along with Union Minister of State for Planning Ashwini Kumar on the sidelines of the Regional Consultation with five Eastern States on the Approach Paper to be finalised by the Planning Commission.
The government last month revised the growth forecast for the current fiscal downward to 7.5 per cent on domestic concerns like high inflation and slowing industrial output, besides a global slowdown.
In a report to the Planning Commission, the panel headed by former SAIL chairman S K Roongta suggested at least 30 central PSUs be listed in the next three years, going up to 50 over five years.
A team will look into the deal between Antrix Corporation and a private company for lease of S-band spectrum.
The manner in which the government and the political opposition in Delhi have been guilt-tripped into this debate on the poverty line is a reflection of a broader phenomenon that has taken root within the minds of the thinking class at large, says Shashi Shekhar.
Budget announcements will come right before five states, with population of around 250 million, go to polls.
The government on Wednesday said it will review the methodology for measuring poverty based on the findings of the NSSO Survey 2009-10.
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