'Both the people have a perspective and are people of stature and people of understanding'
The government on Tuesday imposed restrictions on sugar exports from June 1, a move aimed at increasing availability of the commodity in the domestic market and curbing price rise. "Export of sugar (raw, refined and white sugar) is placed under restricted category from June 1, 2022 onwards," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification. However, it said that these restrictions would not be applicable on sugar being exported to the EU and the US under CXL and TRQ. A specified amount of sugar is exported to these regions under CLX and TRQ.
The Aam Aadmi Party claimed on Wednesday that the Bharatiya Janata Party has approached four of its legislators in Delhi, asking them to switch sides and join the saffron party or else, face 'false cases, the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) and the ED (Enforcement Directorate)'.
The proceedings of the House were adjourned till 2 pm as slogan-shouting TMC and other opposition MPs trooped into the well of the House, some holding placards, to demand a discussion on the issue of Israeli-made, military-grade Pegasus spyware being used to snoop on opposition leaders, government critics and journalists.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Monday said it has increased prices of its entire product range, except Celerio, by up to 1.9 per cent with immediate effect. In a regulatory filing, the company noted that it has taken the decision to hike prices due to an increase in various input costs. The weighted average price rise in ex-showroom prices (New Delhi) across select models is 1.9 per cent, it added. This is MSI's third price hike this year.
India is facing no risk of recession or stagflation as macroeconomic fundamentals of the economy are strong, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday. Replying to a debate on price rise in the Lok Sabha, she said the GST collection and Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) are indicating that the Indian economy is getting more robust. The GST collection rose 28 per cent to touch the second-highest level of Rs 1.49 lakh crore in July. GST, introduced in July 2017, touched a record high of Rs 1.68 lakh crore in April 2022.
Pawar alleged that attempts are being made to disturb the social unity in Maharashtra and communal ideology is being promoted in the state.
The wholesale price-based inflation spiked to 12.54 per cent in October, mainly due to rise in prices of manufactured products and crude petroleum. WPI inflation has remained in double digit for the seventh consecutive month beginning April. Inflation in September this year was at 10.66 per cent, while in October 2020 it was at 1.31 per cent.
He alleged that the BJP government has lined up a series of programmes to herald the start of the corridor only to deflect people's attention from the PM's 'failure' to double the income of farmers.
Changes in global oil and gas rates matter more to India's economy than other major economies because the country imports around 87 per cent of its oil, half of its gas in the form of LNG, and over 60 per cent of its LPG.
The Congress on Friday called senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad's resignation 'unfortunate' and termed the timing 'awful', saying it has come at a time when the party is engaged in combating the Bharatiya Janata Party on various issues.
Hitting back at former prime minister Manmohan Singh for his criticism of the Modi government's handling of the economy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said he is more remembered for having brought India to "fragile five" and rampant inflation during his term.
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala also said, "Saheb knows his qualities very well". He also shared a copy of the news report.
Moody's Investors Service on Thursday slashed India's economic growth projection to 8.8 per cent for 2022 from 9.1 per cent earlier, citing high inflation. In its update to Global Macro Outlook 2022-23, Moody's said high-frequency data suggests that the growth momentum from December quarter 2021 carried through into the first four months this year. However, the rise in crude oil, food and fertilizer prices will weigh on household finances and spending in the months ahead.
The parliamentary affairs minister also said the productivity of Lok Sabha was around 82 per cent and that of Rajya Sabha around 48 per cent.
Gold is usually seen as a safe-haven when stocks are falling or when inflation is rising. With prices of the yellow metal hovering near record highs, people are also putting off their jewellery purchases. Along with a subdued marriage season, the orders with price open and settled on delivery day, too, are getting cancelled. Apart from high, volatile prices, there is no gold rush yet for the safe-haven asset, crimping demand.
The Congress will reach out to civil society members and like-minded political groups for the 'Bharat Jodo' yatra from October 2 for rallying support to combat polarisation and protect Constitution, democracy and various institutions, senior party leaders said on Thursday.
Pushed by rising prices of essential kitchen items, the retail inflation rose to an eight-month high of 7.34 per cent in September, making the RBI's task to push growth by reducing the interest rate even more difficult in coming the days. The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation was 6.69 per cent in August and 3.99 per cent in September 2019. Inflation has been hovering above 4 per cent since October 2019.
Indian consumers are likely to get respite from rising prices just before the festival season. Some consumer companies, including automakers, have indicated that they are planning to pause price hikes just before demand picks up in August, while keeping a close eye on volatile raw material prices.
The Indian real estate market is on an upward cycle and residential housing continues to be the star of the sector, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh said on Thursday. He added that unlike many other Western countries, the demand for housing in India is from genuine homebuyers and is not speculative in nature. "The India real estate market is on an upward cycle which bodes well for all of us. "The big star of the real estate sector continues to remain residential housing in India. "I hardly need to reiterate that demand for housing in India continues to remain robust," Parekh said while addressing the CII Real Estate event.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday resigned from all party positions, including its primary membership, delivering another blow to the embattled party that has seen a series of leaders leave it.
A head of its meeting, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) can take some solace from the softening food commodity prices. However, the events surrounding the last few weeks show that the fall may not be uniform across all commodities, and cereals like wheat and rice could be the outliers. A Reuters report said that local wheat prices jumped to a record Rs 23,547 per tonne on Wednesday. That is a 12 per cent rise from the recent lows that followed the government's surprise ban on exports on May 14.
Equities went into a tailspin on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank surprised the market with a mid-cycle rate hike in a bid to tame soaring inflation.
The rate of price rise for food articles stood at 11.51 per cent during January as against 2.41 per cent a month earlier, while for non-food articles it rose nearly three-fold to 7.8 per cent from 2.32 per cent in December, the data released by the ministry of commerce and industry on Friday showed.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said he has made his decision on whether he will become the next party president and asserted that he will give his reasons if he does not contest.
That AAP managed a sizeable vote share in Gujarat is creditable. The BJP can no longer ignore AAP's growing presence in its strongest bastion, explains Ramesh Menon, long-time observer of Gujarat politics.
The move by Sharad Yadav (74), who had been keeping low after battling health issues for months, is seen as an effort to rehabilitate his colleagues and other associates as his LJD could never become a serious force after its launch following his separation with Janata Dal-United leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The Congress president also announced that a compact task force will be set up to drive the process of internal reforms that are essential.
The rate of price rise has been on a decline for the past four months.
The BJP is not taking the AAP challenge lightly. Amit Shah has cautioned party insiders to ensure that AAP does not cross a vote share of 24%. He has always seen AAP as a much more significant challenge than the Congress, observes Ramesh Menon, author, Modi Demystified: The Making Of A Prime Minister.
Gold price surged to all-time high of Rs 21,000 per ten grams; while silver rate sets a new record of Rs 44,000 per kg in the Delhi bullion market on Wednesday on hectic buying from stockists triggered by sharp rise in the global market.
Petrol and diesel price soared to an all-time high across the country on Friday after rates were hiked again by 25 paise and 30 paise a litre, respectively. The price of petrol in Delhi rose it its highest ever level of Rs 101.89 a litre and to Rs 107.95 in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. Diesel rates too touched a record high of Rs 90.17 in Delhi and Rs 97.84 in Mumbai.
'What worked for the BJP were three things: Hindu nationalism, religion and a silent but strong anti-Muslim sentiment.'
Battling a sharp surge in inflation, the Reserve Bank is all for a smooth monetary policy response and the desire to have smaller hikes led it to tighten the policy in an off-schedule meet, a source said on Thursday. Inflation has been massively impacted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and will in due course also reflect the dent caused by Indonesia banning palm oil exports, the source aware of central bank thinking said, indicating that there was no other option but to respond. "The idea is to have a smooth policy response, not to put in large cold turkey responses," the source said, making it clear that the preference is for smaller magnitude responses and not larger ones.
After a virtual meeting of the Opposition parties, where they stressed on unitedly moving forward to defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the leaders also put out an 11-point charter of demands before the government.
Eyeing the revival of the crisis-ridden party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party chief Sonia Gandhi described the march as a "landmark occasion" and hoped that the march would help rejuvenate the grand old party.
This is the highest level of wholesale price index-based (WPI) inflation since February, when it was 2.26 per cent.
Gold and silver became costlier in the country following the international price rise over the expectations of negative interest rates in the US, the rising trade tensions between the US and China and the weakening of the rupee.
An average Indian spends no more than Rs 1.3 lakh per year, according to official statistics. This is close to what an average Indian earns annually. At this level of per capita income today, one litre of petrol costs one-third of an average Indian's daily income (Delhi prices), making it highly unaffordable. People in most other Asian and emerging countries find it more affordable.
Replying to the debate in Lok Sabha on Motion of Thanks to President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the Parliament, Modi said the Congress' 'arrogance' has not gone away despite multiple electoral defeats and its 'misdeeds' seem to indicate that it has made up its mind not to come to power for the next 100 years.