New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday indicated that the government was looking at growth-oriented reforms and defended the diesel price hike saying it wasn't wrong. "The recent increase in diesel prices is a move in the right direction," Manmohan Singh said at the Planning Commission meet unveiling the 12th Five Year Plan. The Prime Minister also said it was important to take risks for growth. "Courage and some...
11:07 AM, Sep 15, 2012
New Delhi: The government's big ticket reforms, FDI in aviation and FDI in retail, have left allies furious. Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has given the UPA a 72-hour deadline to roll back retail FDI and fuel price hike but Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has made it clear that there will be no turning back. Talking to CNBC-TV18, Anand Sharma said last year's decision to...
08:04 AM, Sep 15, 2012
New Delhi: In a major decision signalling reforms, the government on Friday approved divestment in four PSUs. Below is the list of the companies: Divestment of 9.59 per cent in Hind Copper Divestment of 10 per cent in Oil India Divestment 12.5 per cent in Nalco Divestment of 9.33 per cent in MMTC through Offer for Sale (OFS) route (Details awaited) ...
05:48 PM, Sep 14, 2012
Raghuram Govind Rajan is the chief economic advisor to the Government of India. Born in Bhopal on February 3, 1963, he graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in electrical engineering. He went on to secure the Master of Business Administration degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in 1987. He moved to the US and got his doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),...
10:00 AM, Aug 30, 2012
Mumbai: Bank employees in India began a two-day strike on Wednesday to protest against proposed reforms that would ease mergers and allow more private capital, including foreign investment, in the banking sector. The strike will involve about one million employees and affect 70,000 bank branches of state-run and some private and foreign banks including the country's biggest lender, State Bank of India. "The strike will be a total success. We...
09:47 AM, Aug 22, 2012
Mumbai: Affirming his government's commitment to working with judiciary for improving delivery of justice, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the Law Commission is looking at improvements required in the court procedures for a better criminal judicial system. He also said an Inter Ministerial Group was examining what changes were needed in the Negotiable Instruments Act along with other measures to check increasing litigation arising out of cases of...
03:17 PM, Aug 18, 2012
New Delhi: The drought threatening India due to elusive monsoon rains will make it politically harder for the government to raise prices of subsidised fuel, delaying a reform urgently needed to rein in the country's fiscal deficit, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, told Reuters. So far India's monsoon rains are 22 per cent below average and are unlikely to pick up enough to avert a drought,...
06:05 AM, Aug 01, 2012
Washington: Observing that the "truth-telling" of US President Barack Obama "evidently pricked the thin skin of India's politicians", a leading American financial daily has said he is in fact "cheering" the Indian elite and not insulting them. "It is no wonder foreign investors are appealing to their leaders for help against Delhi's protectionism. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong alluded to how these policies created a poor business climate during...
06:47 PM, Jul 21, 2012
Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress is sticking to its pre-election stance on opposition to FDI in retail, privatisation of pension funds and forward trading, party leader Mukul Roy said on Friday. "Whenever these will be brought in the form of bills in Parliament we will sit and decide," Roy said in Kolkata on the eve of its annual martyrs' rally. "On issues which will hit the common man we will not...
05:28 PM, Jul 20, 2012
New Delhi: Leading industrialist Ratan Tata on Thursday took on the Opposition and tweeted his support for embattled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the wake of criticism from the media and the people alike. The Chairman of the USD 100 billion conglomerate also hit out at "some members of ruling party", saying it is "grossly misdirected" to single out the Prime Minister and blame him for the economic woes that...
10:07 AM, Jul 19, 2012
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has said that the government had taken note of US President Barack Obama's remarks on economic reforms in India and said that despite everything, India had an investor-friendly climate. ...
02:40 PM, Jul 16, 2012
US President Barack Obama's criticism of India's economic policy has evoked strong reaction from Indian politicians. ...
10:49 PM, Jul 15, 2012
New Delhi: Opposition parties on Sunday lashed out at US President Barack Obama for his remarks that India prohibits foreign investment in too many sectors, with BJP saying the country cannot open its markets just because he wants it. "If Obama wants FDI in retail and India does not want, then it won't come just because he is demanding it," was the terse reaction of BJP leader Yashwant Sinha. BJP...
10:20 PM, Jul 15, 2012
US President Barack Obama said that India is limiting foreign investment in too many sectors like retail. ...
05:16 PM, Jul 15, 2012
Washington: Noting that India prohibited foreign investment in too many sectors such as retail, US President Barack Obama on Sunday cited concerns over deteriorating investment climate there to endorse another "wave" of economic reforms. Still sounding positive about Indian economy, "which continues to grow at an impressive rate," he said that to some extent, India's slower growth is a reflection of the larger slowdown in the global economy. The US...
03:01 PM, Jul 15, 2012
Kochi: Demanding that selection of judges be made in a "rational and transparent" manner, key Team Anna member and noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Sunday sought comprehensive reforms in judicial, civil and police administration. "No disciplinary proceedings can be launched against apex court and High court judges. No FIR can be registered against them," he said at a function here. Judiciary was "not accountable" to a majority of people, and...
11:43 PM, Jul 08, 2012
Miami: He's the non-candidate they never stop talking about. Ever since Jeb Bush left the Florida governor's mansion in 2007 with favourable ratings after two terms, speculation has swirled about his political future. The chatter has only gotten louder this year amid the Republican Party's "veepstakes" - despite Bush's repeated insistence that he is not in the running. Bush appeared to put the issue to rest in a recent series...
10:31 PM, Jun 23, 2012
Anand Sudarshan Age: 52 years Designation: Vice chairman and managing director, Manipal Global Education Services (MaGE). Education: BE in E&C, NIT Trichy and PGDM IIM, Calcutta Career: Started with Nelco, then moved to a computer retail chain called Computer Point for four years; later co-founded Microland group and ran Planetasia.com as its CEO and then moved to NetKraft as CEO which was sold to Adea Solutions Interests: Sports watcher, reader...
04:35 PM, Jun 23, 2012
Mumbai: The domestic aviation sector first needs sweeping policy reforms, particularly regarding jet fuel taxes and free ticket pricing, before allowing FDI into the sector, an ICICI Securities report said on Wednesday. With passenger traffic moving into single-digit growth, due to higher ticket prices, along with last year's high base effect, the report said that developments at Air India and Kingfisher Airlines have helped other carriers maintain a healthy growth...
01:02 AM, Jun 21, 2012
Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu said that two reforms are on the cards - FDI in retail and partial deregulation of diesel prices. ...
10:40 PM, Jun 20, 2012
