-Reuters The finance minister is finding it harder and harder to meet the government's budget promises and may sweep as much as $15 billion in subsidy costs into next year's accounts to ensure he hits fiscal targets ahead of the Lok Sabha, ministry officials say. Finance minister, P Chidambaram, insists that the fiscal deficit target of 4.8% of GDP for the year to March 31, 2014, is a red line that will...
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India set for bumper winter crops in wake of monsoon rains
-Reuters NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: India looks set for bumper harvests of winter crops such as wheat, chickpeas and rapeseed in the wake of a strong monsoon that has left the soil moist and topped up reservoirs. The crops will follow bountiful summer harvests of rice and soybeans due to the rains, with New Delhi looking to boost agricultural growth to cool double-digit food inflation and revive a slowing economy as manufacturing struggles. With next...
More »Should Aadhaar be made mandatory?-Jyoti Mukul
-The Business Standard A Supreme Court interim order says it should not, but the issues involved may not be quite so clear cut Even as the Supreme Court sits to hear arguments on the applicability of the unique identification number, popularly known as Aadhaar, the debate around the unique identification number has already shifted from its success or reach to whether it should be mandatory. In an interim order, the apex court...
More »Supreme Court dampens govt hope of mining resumption in Goa -Dhananjay Mahapatra
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said considerations of faster economic growth could not be the sole criterion for determining the legality of the ban it has imposed on mining activities in Goa, in remarks which immediately hiked the suspense on what it might do with the desperate pleas to allow resumption of mining which has been the mainstay of the state's economy. In a sharp rejoinder...
More »Can't sustain all subsidies, says SC, underlines need for fiscal prudence -Utkarsh Anand
-The Indian Express The Supreme Court on Monday advocated a "balanced approach" on subsidies so that the country's "economy not just survives but also thrives". The court upheld the decontrol of diesel prices for bulk consumers, who had challenged the government's policy in various high courts. Some of these cases had travelled to the Supreme Court. "We have to keep in mind that the rupee is going down against the dollar....
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