With agriculture growth rate falling short of the 4 per cent target in last five years, the sector needs urgent reforms to boost crop yields and private investment in infrastructure so as to motivate farmers and feed the growing population, the Ec
Claiming that the "downturn is more or less over", the pre-Budget Economic Survey today projected an optimistic 6.1 to 6.7 per cent growth in the next fiscal and made a strong call for cutting subsidises. While pegging the GDP gr
The economic survey 2012-13 has an indelible imprint of the MIT-educated economic advisor to the finance minister, Raghuram Govind Rajan. For the first time for the economic survey, there are 38 brief bios attached, talking, about those si
Indian economy is likely to grow between 6.1% to 6.7% in 2013-14 as the downturn is more or less over and the economy is looking up. Following the slowdown induced by the global financial crisis in 2008-09, the Indian economy responded stron
I have a question and an important one. Every question has a story behind it, so here it is before I come back to my question. On the west coast of our country by the Arabian Sea lies Kochi, a calm and breathtakingly beautiful place. This
Booking railway tickets from the IRCTC website is rarely a happy experience for passengers. They must have been somewhat relieved when Pawan Kumar Bansal in his railway budget speech promised to reform the ticketing system. It was for the first ti
Terming as "outlandish and bizarre" the statement of Chuck Hagel, the new US Defence Secretary, that India has financed problems for Pakistan in Afghanistan, BJP on Wednesday asked the government to exert diplomatic pressure on Washingto
A major fire engulfed a market housing a godown-cum-office complex in Sealdah area here early on Wednesday, leaving 18 people dead and several others injured. Joint Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Javed Shamim said the dead included
When someone as learned as Meghnad Desai chooses to cite the telecom sector as the platform for sounding off general deficiency of policy change, as he recently did in his column in the Indian Express, we know something is seriously wrong with it.
Hailing the Railway Budget as "reformist and forward-looking", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has done a commendable job in meeting competing demands of improving services and controlling expenditure
Terming the Railway Budget for 2012-13 as "practical and implementable", Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said that his cabinet colleague Pawan Kumar Bansal has presented the finances of the railways in a very candid manner.
The Railway Budget for 2013-14 on Tuesday spared passengers from any further hike in fares but raised various other charges on tickets along with freight tariff of less than 5 per cent. Presenting the Budget in the Lok Sabha, Railway Minis
In his railway budget speech, railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal suddenly quoted revolutionary Hindi poet Dushyant Kumar to demonstrate his sincerity of purpose. "Sirf hangama khada karna mera maksad nahi, meri koshish hai ki ye surat badaln
Railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal presents the Railway Budget 2013-14 in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Some of the highlights of the budget are: *Losses to railways on account of passenger traffic likely to mount to Rs 24,600 crore in 2012-1
Top Left leaders on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here and demanded steps to bring down soaring prices of essential commodities and universalisation of public distribution system, among other things, to ensure food security to people.
A powerful country-made bomb was recovered from a bag near the main gate of the Indian Oil Corporation`s (IOC) oil refinery on Tuesday. The bomb was kept in a bag in front of the gate of the refinery in Noonmati area of the city, police sa
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A close friend of P Chidambaram’s family laid out the political future of the finance minister. “By the end of 2013, Rahul Gandhi will indicate that he wants a role like his mother Sonia’s, which epitomises power without responsi
There are fewer human beings, dead or alive, more dangerous than a political leader who shoots off his/her mouth, with or without provocation. So days after Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party’s new vice-president, reportedly chided some party
