MENU 
NEW DELHI: The government has worked out a strategy to defuse the crisis in the telecom sector triggered by the recent recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Official sources said there is a near-consensus that the government should look at different aspects of the recommendations separately...
NEW DELHI: It is almost certain now that key economic bills relating to reforms in the insurance, banking and pension sectors will not come up in the current session of Parliament. While the insurance bill failed to get Cabinet approval last week, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, though cleared...
India Inc expects the economic climate to turn worse before its gets better, with a deteriorating fiscal situation and a drop in foreign investments likely to define the country in the medium term, an ET Poll of CEOs to gauge business confidence has revealed. Along with dimming confidence in...
NEW DELHI: The spectre of stagflation has come to hauntIndia’s policymakers again with headline inflation accelerating to an unexpectedly high 7.23% in April from 6.89% in the previous month on dearer food and manufactured items, amid signs of a further weakening of investment climate. This has complicated the central...
By Amulya Ganguli Given Mamata Banerjee’s mercurial temperament, it is not easy to say how serious she is about her effusive welcoming of American investment in West Bengal. Considering that she tries to outdo the Left in her aversion to the private sector – after all, she evicted the...
By Praful Bidwai The Socialist Party’s Francois Hollande has become the president of France by ousting the conservative incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy, in one of the most bitterly contested and polarising election campaigns in recent European history. This breaks the Right’s spell over the French presidency since 1995. This is...
NEW DELHI: Fabindia has got the foreign investment promotion board’s (FIPB) clearance to induct up to 49.5% FDI in the company. This would allow the company to expand its business in the country without being restricted by the norm that foreign investment in the sector should only be by the...
NEW DELHI: State oil firms plan to raise petrol prices after the end of the budget session of Parliament this month and revise them every fortnight to recover 5,000 crore past revenue losses as they haven’t increased rates since December due to political pressure. So far, the oil ministry...
With the defence ministry dragging its feet on crucial defense purchases, for the first time since independence the Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to lose conventional edge overPakistan. It’s fighter squadron strength is set to hit an all time low of 31 in the next two years. Since...
MUMBAI: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has asked life insurers to stop selling highest net asset value (NAV)-guaranteed products. In a recent communication to all life insurers, the regulator has said, “The marketing of products labelled as highest NAV product shall not be allowed”. These products contribute...
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: As key stakeholders in the pharma industry — associations of drug makers, drug retailers and civil society groups — meet the group of ministers (GoM) led by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on pharma pricing in New Delhi on Monday, two issues will be hotly debated: The span...
NEW DELHI: As many as 18 upcoming power projects with an aggregate capacity of over 25,000 MW might be forced to violate their tariff commitments and seek a much higher price from consumers. This is because the coal ministry has rejected a request from the developers of these projects...
NEW DELHI: Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar is set to take over as the next chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, two people familiar with the development told ET. Khullar, who has one more year to go in the commerce ministry, is likely to resign soon to take...
Indian firms are being squeezed by rising input costs and cooling demand, resulting in a slowdown in earnings and revenue growth compared to recent quarters. An ETIG analysis of 600 companies that have announced results for the quarter ended March 31, 2012, shows that net profit, excluding firms in...
By S. Sethuraman Heading into mid-year, we see more dark clouds on the horizon as against a slow but steady recovery for the global economy led principally by Asian majors like China and India, postulated at the start of 2012. Electoral politics has taken over much of economic space...
By B.K. Chum in Chandigarh It is seldom that the two main national parties, one in power and the other out of power, are afflicted with similar inner-party problems and their top leaders suggest similar remedial measures. The parties under reference are Congress and BJP. Both are plagued with...
By Narendra Sharma NEW DELHI: The scavengers or sanitary workers belong to the lowliest of the toilers among the country’s 450 million workforce. Their working and living conditions which are worse than any other segment of the working class, have remained unchanged over centuries. With stick-broom and a tinplate...
By Surojit Mahalanobis NEW DELHI: If business ethics do not catch up with your conscience, then the CAG will. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) a slow or no-starter in their corporate social responsibility. At a report of audit on 114...