Is the UPA's success in securing the presidency for Pranab Mukherjee an opportunity to re-energise the government and end the policy paralysis? ...
10:17 PM, Jun 20, 2012
Washington: External affairs minister SM Krishna on June 12 sought to reassure frustrated US business leaders that India is committed to economic reforms after recent government decisions that have left them questioning future investments. "In an era of global interdependence, not everything is within the powers of national governments. But we are confident we will restore investor confidence and regain momentum and growth," Krishna said in a speech ahead of...
11:55 AM, Jun 13, 2012
New Delhi: Less than 24 hours after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired a meeting of the key economic minister to give a push to economic reforms and put an end to the policy paralysis, the Trinamool Congress on Thursday posed a new roadblock for the government, forcing it to defer the Pension Bill. The Union Cabinet was forced to defer the key reform bill after Union Railway Minister and Trinamool...
11:24 PM, Jun 07, 2012
Washington: US President Barack Obama on Saturday called on the US Congress to back his efforts for tough new financial industry oversight, saying a $2 billion trading loss at JPMorgan underscored the need for such regulation. "We've got to finish the job of implementing this reform and putting these rules in place," Obama said in a weekly radio address that accused some on Wall Street of causing the 2007-2009 economic...
06:14 PM, May 20, 2012
New Delhi: In a politically and economically crucial and bold decision the government on Tuesday informed Parliament that it was willing to decontrol diesel prices. The government in a written reply told the Rajya Sabha that the decision to decontrol diesel prices has been taken in principle. However, the government added that retail selling prices would be moderated to insulate the common people. The decision comes just two days after...
01:48 PM, Apr 24, 2012
New Delhi: Some firework in expected in Parliament by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the CD row on Monday as the House reconvenes for the second part of the Budget session. The government is planning to bring in three key finance sector reforms " the Pension Regulatory Bill, the Insurance Bill and the Banking Reforms Bill " in the current session. The priority, however, will be to see that...
07:50 AM, Apr 24, 2012
Doha: Calling for international financial sector reforms to overcome global economic uncertainties, India on Monday said the role of developing countries should have a say in the decision making process for such reforms. Speaking at the UNCTAD XIII, General Debate, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said India is willing to work with the international community to ensure global policy coordination for the healthy recovery of the global economy. "We...
03:12 AM, Apr 24, 2012
Washington: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressed confidence lawmakers will approve key financial sector reforms this year, despite concerns political gridlock could delay any meaningful bills until a new government takes office in 2014. Mukherjee said in an interview on Saturday night that India's reforms are a "continuing process" which is following its natural path through different instances of government. "It is not that there is any stoppage of the reforms,"...
10:46 PM, Apr 22, 2012
Washington: After the furore over his remarks to a think tank, Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu feels India will see "some important" reforms in the next six months, including on subsidies and may be partial diesel decontrol and FDI in retail. However, he feels the "biggest reform" GST (Goods and Services Tax) may be tougher because it is good and not everybody wants it to happen under the present regime....
03:08 PM, Apr 22, 2012
New Delhi: India's Chief Economic Advisor Dr Kaushik Basu's statements on policy paralysis led to the BJP accusing the government of being in a coma and the government blaming the Opposition for the situation. Boardroom corners, industry chambers, policy-makers - everwhere - this was a hushed up conversation. And now its official - an admission coming from none other than Basu. "Reforms are unlikely before the 2014 elections. Bureaucracy doesn't...
10:31 PM, Apr 20, 2012
The Chief Economic Advisor has said that there are unlikely to be major economic reforms before the next elections. ...
08:42 PM, Apr 20, 2012
The PM's Economic Advisor, Kaushik Basu, said on Friday that economic reforms were unlikely in India before the 2014 polls. ...
12:07 PM, Apr 20, 2012
Washington: Reforms are unlikely before the 2014 elections, Prime Minister's Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu has suggested. Speaking at the US-based think tank Carnegie Endowment meet on Wednesday, Basu said relatively less important bill might go through Parliament. He was addressing concerns expressed by US corporates on some recent decisions of the Indian government. Basu blamed the slowdown in decision making on the spate of recent corruption related scams saying the...
08:49 AM, Apr 20, 2012
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the Indian economy was facing "difficulties" but expressed hope that the challenges will be overcome. "There are difficulties. Life will not be worth living if there are no difficulties. I am confident with great determination, we will overcome (these)," Singh said in his brief intervention at a panel discussion here this evening. The Prime Minister was the chief guest at a...
09:12 PM, Apr 14, 2012
New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for speeding up long-pending electoral reforms. Sources said the poll panel chief in his letter said that the reforms, including preventing people with criminal backgrounds from contesting elections, should be "expeditiously considered and approved". Although the contents of the letter were not available, official sources said the poll panel had been suggesting steps to...
07:48 PM, Apr 13, 2012
New Delhi: The government plans to raise India's share in the global foreign direct investment (FDI) to 5 per cent by 2017 by streamlining policies for attracting investments. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has set a goal "to increase FDI inflows to India by improving its global share from 1.3 per cent in 2007 to 5 per cent by 2017". A report of the DIPP said that...
11:52 AM, Apr 08, 2012
New Delhi: Pitching for quota and governance reforms in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India and Britain on Monday said the funds of the multilateral lending agency should be adequately increased to help it play a meaningful role in mitigating global economic problems. "Both sides (India and the UK) are committed to ensuring that the IMF is adequately resourced to play its systemic role in the international financial system in...
01:40 AM, Apr 03, 2012
Mumbai: US commerce secretary John Bryson on Thursday invited corporate India to invest in his country, and promised a more investor-friendly tax regime. "Reform is happening in the American tax code. We have one of the highest statutory corporate tax rates for any country and that has only become more complicated since the 1980s. We are lowering the corporate tax from 35 to 28 per cent," Bryson said. He was...
10:58 PM, Mar 29, 2012
New Delhi: Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia commenting on the current rift between the Trinamool Congress and the Congress on the Budget 2012 said that nobody quite says that they are going to agree something unless they agree or until they are ready. Speaking to Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate, Ahluwalia said that we should wait for the reforms to show their results. Karan Thapar:Hello and...
07:25 PM, Mar 18, 2012
Washington: Calling the Indian budget "measured but without game-changing reforms", a US-India trade group has expressed the hope that the government would deliver on foreign investor friendly key reforms during the budget session. "Several policy announcements in Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's Budget, especially in taxation-raised concerns," said the US-India Business Council (USIBC) comprising nearly 400 top American and about a score Indian companies seeking stronger India-US commercial ties. USIBC "looks...
08:18 AM, Mar 17, 2012
