Coming down heavily on the Centre for rise in prices of essential commodities, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's announcement to convene a meeting on the issue was like "starting digging a well to extinguish the fire".
The surprise decision of OPEC and its allies, including Russia, to cut oil output may cause an immediate rise in prices, delaying revision in fuel prices in India, industry sources said. The grouping of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, called OPEC+, on Sunday decided to further cut oil output by around 1.16 million barrels. The move led to Brent rising by almost 6 per cent to $84.58 per barrel on Monday.
India saw one of the worst terrorist attacks in November last year, when Mumbai was under siege for four days. Little under a year later, Indians perceive rising food prices as a bigger threat than terrorism.
Proceedings in Parliament were washed out for the second consecutive working on Tuesday as Opposition members created pandemonium on a host of issues including JPC report on 2G, Telangana, price rise and death of children in relief camps for Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh) riot victims.
Silver also edged higher by Rs 100 to Rs 36,100 per kg.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday hiked Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) by 3 per cent to 34 per cent to compensate for the price rise, benefitting over 1.16 crore central government employees and pensioners. The additional instalment will be effective from January 1, 2022, said an official release after the Cabinet meeting. "The Union Cabinet...has given its approval to release an additional instalment of DA to central government employees and DR to pensioners w.e.f. January 1, 2022, representing an increase of 3 per cent over the existing rate of 31 per cent of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise," an official statement said.
'We have made a pledge; those who kicked Rahul Gandhi out of the house he had lived for 19 years, will be kicked out from the corridors of power.'
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Thursday headed for a second straight win from the urban constituency of Ghatlodia, where he had taken a comfortable lead of almost 20,000 votes over his nearest rival after five rounds of vote counting.
The demand for diesel cars, which account for 58 per cent of passenger vehicle sales in India every month, has seen a steep rise, as manufacturers continue to introduce variants that have diesel engines.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday hailed the party's performance in the Karnataka assembly polls as the victory of politics that unites the country.
Even as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was defeated in the Karnataka assembly elections, the party retained its traditional stronghold in the coastal region by securing victories in 11 of the 13 constituencies in the twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
Acknowledging that the situation regarding prices of food items is serious, the government said on Friday it was taking long and short term measures and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will soon convene a meeting of chief ministers to address the problem.
Left parties were on Tuesday joined by the Biju Janata Dal, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party and the Telugu Desam Party in the Parliament in their protest against the government's 'inaction' in checking rising prices of foodgrain and other essential items.
Retail inflation dipped marginally to 6.44 per cent in February, mainly on account of a slight easing in prices of food and fuel items though it remained above the Reserve Bank's comfort level of 6 per cent for the second month in a row. As per the government data released on Monday, the Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation was at 6.52 per cent in January and 6.07 per cent in February 2022. The retail inflation rate for the food basket worked out to be 5.95 per cent in February, marginally lower than 6 per cent in January.
During the past 30 days, prices of medium residential apartments rose by Rs 300-500 per square feet across various nodes in the city. The present prices range at Rs 2,500-3,000 per square foot across nodes like Kamothe, Panvel, Kharghar, Khandeshwar and CDB Belapur, said Srikanth Puduval, a real estate agent.
Already retail inflation has risen to 6.07 per cent in February, crossing the upper band of the Parliamentary mandate. This is the second consecutive month in 2022 when retail inflation has crossed the 6 per cent mark having hit 6.01 per cent in January.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Monday said it will hike prices across models from next month amid rising input costs. In a regulatory filing, the company said, ".... over the past year the cost of company's vehicles continue to be adversely impacted due to increase in various input costs." Hence, it has become imperative to pass on some impact of the additional cost to the customers through a price rise, it added.
The sale of mid-segment homes in India has overtaken affordable ones in the first half of calendar year (CY) 2023, a report released on Tuesday showed. It is despite the increase in residential prices in all the major cities in India. The share of premium homes has also gone up during the period.
The last few years have been uncharacteristically good for the Indian sugar sector for a variety of reasons. While on the one hand, the weather supported good crop production; on the other hand, the programme to blend ethanol with petrol took off in a big way. The long-pending problem of burgeoning sugarcane arrears almost came down to nil and exports boomed to record highs.
Six entities including four foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) are under lens for suspicious trading in Adani group shares prior to the release of the damning Hindenburg report, the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee has said. There was a build up of short positions in the Adani scips prior to the January 24 release of the Hindenburg report, and substantial profits were booked thereafter as stocks crashed, the 178-page report said. A "short" position is generally the sale of a stock one does not own.
Very often, 'sentiment' drives prices well beyond what is warranted and it is hard to forecast market sentiment, explains Debashis Basu.
Residential real estate saw a significant fall in supply in the quarter ended June, while office space recorded a steep decline in demand, as well as supply, in the first half of the year, according to reports by international consulting firms.
Despite NMDC raising iron ore prices by 10%, major steel firms say they will follow suit if demand increases
Welcome the rise in prices to the extent it is created by an increase in the purchasing power of the poor. The negative interest rates are supposed to be a disincentive for savings, thereby increasing demand.
Retail inflation cut short its three-month declining trend and inched up to 7 per cent in August mainly due to higher food prices, according to official data released on Monday. The consumer price index (CPI) based inflation was 6.71 per cent in July and 5.3 per cent in August 2021. The CPI inflation has remained above the RBI's comfort level of 6 per cent for the eighth month in a row.
The Congress on Monday described as a "blot on democracy" the suspension of its four MPs for the rest of the monsoon session for disrupting proceedings in the Lok Sabha, alleging the government was trying to "intimidate" the party but it would not be cowed down.
Clearly, one of the biggest political rallies in the country since the Narendra Damodardas Modi government took power in 2014.
The Bhartiya Janata Party has questioned Finance minister P Chidambaram's comment that cartelisation by some politicians has led to increase in prices of essential commodities and other items like steel, iron and cement.
A survey of action taken by the state governments suggests that while most govts are under political pressure to control prices, few have actually taken proactive steps to do anything about them. Delhi & Maharashtra are the exceptions. Midnight raids on retailers in both the states have made hoarders wary. While the state govt was attempting to stave off the effect of food inflation, industry said it was steel prices that were going to affect the state's fortunes in long run.
Launching an attack on the BJP, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Friday said the increase in prices was the "handiwork" of traders sponsored by the saffron party.Prasad said there has been a sudden increase in prices after the submission of the report of the 6th Pay Commission and this should be investigated.
With raw material prices rising sequentially in Q4 FY23, margins of fast moving electrical goods (FMEG) companies could witness pressure as they refrain from hiking prices and demand remains soft. Transition to a new regulatory regime-fans moved to new BEE standards from January 1-poses additional risk for firms. Business depends on volume trends in summer for key sub-segments, which account for a significant chunk of the sector's overall sales pie.
Retail inflation declined to a one-year low of 5.72 per cent in December 2022, mainly due to softening prices of food items, according to official data released on Thursday. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation was at 5.88 per cent in November 2022 and 5.66 per cent in December 2021.
'Elections in Madhya Pradesh have so far largely avoided freebies.' 'But this time both the Congress and BJP are making such announcements.'
A week after suspending them from the House for 'unruly' behaviour, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday revoked the suspension of four Congress members, after seeking assurance from the Opposition that they will not bring placards to the House.
Slogans of 'Make Rahul Gandhi INC president' rent the air on Sunday as thousands of Congress supporters reached the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi to raise their voice against price rise and unemployment.
A 6-7 million tonnes shortfall in rice production due to a fall in paddy sowing area is likely to keep rice prices at elevated levels, adding to the inflationary pressure that the slowing economy is already grappling with. Elevated food prices, including that of cereals, had led to retail inflation reversing a three-month declining trend, to touch 7 per cent in August. Similarly, the wholesale price inflation, which declined to 11-month low, also showed price pressures from cereals resulting from wheat output being impacted by severe heat waves in some parts of the country.
The Cabinet Committee on Prices chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday reviewed inflation, including rising onion prices and decided to take further measures like cut in taxes and improving supply of essential commodities.
'Those who are starving need not go to watch the match'
The wholesale price-based inflation eased for the third consecutive month in August to 12.41 per cent, on softening in prices of manufactured items, even as food items saw an uptick. The Wholesale Price Index-based inflation was 13.93 per cent in July and 11.64 per cent in August last year. August is the 17th consecutive month of double-digit wholesale price inflation (WPI).
Prospective buyers must make a well-considered decision regarding whether this is the right time to buy a house, particularly with home loan rates at near-peak levels, and the risk of job losses looming in many sectors.
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