Opinion
Appeal
The legacy of IPA, founded by Nikhil Chakravartty, the doyen of journalism in India, to keep the flag of independent media flying high, is facing the threat of extinction due to the effect of the Covid pandemic. Only an emergency funding can avert such an eventuality. We appeal to all those who believe in the freedom of expression to contribute to this noble cause.Panel: Coal Ministry Intimidating Power Firms
NEW DELHI: A parliamentary panel has pulled up the coal ministry for cancelling allocations to power companies without trying to address the issues that led to delays in developing coal blocks. The ministry had been acting like a big brother, trying to intimidate power companies for reasons beyond their...
Any Hope For Rupee? Poll Says It May Sink To 57
MUMBAI: The Indian rupee fell the most since December to a new closing low on Wednesday, while currency strategists forecast more pain as central bank intervention remains limited and inflows dry up. The rupee may touch a new low of 57 to the US dollar in the next three...
Hillary Visit Has Special Significance
By Kalyani Shankar The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit this week to India has brought West Bengal and its chief minister Mamata Banerjee to focus because she chose to break her journey in Kolkata. The jubilant chief minister had a proper briefing from External affairs minister S.M....
Rahul To Become ‘Working President’
By Nora Chopra Rahul Gandhi is all set to take charge of the party as Working President in the next AICC reshuffle, after the name of the President of India is announced some time next month. He has finally agreed on his mother’s insistence to take charge and shoulder...
White Paper On Black Money Before May 22
NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday announced to bring out a white paper on black money before the end of Parliaments budget session on May 22. It is in the final stage of drafting and will be tabled not on the last day of the session but much...
FIIs turn bearish as macro fears weigh
MUMBAI: Foreign investors, drivers of domestic stocks, have increased their bearish bets by buying Nifty put options, raising fears of a further decline in markets despite the government having postponed a controversial set of tax laws, which has spooked them, by a year. The government announcement that general anti-avoidance...
India Is Shopping For Nine Bizjets For Special-Missions
The Indian Air Force has floated a brand new requirement to support the acquisition of nine special mission aircraft for airborne Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Communications Jamming (COMJAM), ground survey and target towing. According to the request for information sent out to global vendors, two of the nine aircraft should...
Ministry Backs Demand To Review Coal India's New Supply Pact
NEW DELHI: Power developers such as Reliance Power, NTPC, and India Bulls have got support from the most unexpected quarter — the Coal Ministry. The Ministry has supported the developers’ call for review of the new fuel supply agreement (FSA) of Coal India Ltd. The producers termed the new...
CEA To Meet Power Firms Over Coal India Penalty Clause
NEW DELHI: Power companies that have not signed the fuel supply pact with CoalIndiacontesting its minimum penalty clause are meeting the Central Electricity Authority tomorrow to find a resolution to the issue. CEA, the power sector planning body, has convened a meeting of power utilities who have not signed...
Fuel Price Hike May Come This June, Too
NEW DELHI: June may turn out to be the luckiest month for government oil marketing companies for the third year in a row. Like the last two years, this June is also expected to see a round of price hikes in controlled fuel products. Price hikes of controlled petroleum...
Zydus Cadila in talks to buy Strides Arcolab's Rs 70-crore India generic business
MUMBAI: Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila is in early stages of talks to acquire Bangalore-based Strides Arcolab’s Rs 70-crore domestic generic business, said two people familiar with the matter. Strides’ domestic generic business, which has a range of antibiotic and nutraceutical products, will help Zydus get a wider market access in...
Govt Pulls Out Review Petition On SC Verdict
NEW DELHI: In a surprise move, the government on Tuesday decided to withdraw its review petition seeking clarity on the Supreme Court ruling which called for allocating all natural resources through auctions. The court had made this directive as part of its February 2 verdict, that cancelled 122 tainted...
CCEA To Talk Selloffs On May 10
NEW DELHI: The halted PSU sell-off programme is set to resume. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is likely to take up a clutch of disinvestment proposals on Thursday, including follow-on offers (FPOs) of Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Hindustan Copper, Nalco and Neyveli Lignite Corporation, official sources...
Let's Bite The Bullet On Fuel & Reforms: FM To Opposition, States
NEW DELHI: The United Progressive Alliance’s chief crisis manager Pranab Mukherjee made a compassionate plea to all political parties and states to urgently bite the bullet on fuel subsidies and urged the Opposition to help with the passage of some crucial economic laws. He also tinkered with the indirect...
Little Room To Cut Interest Rates: RBI
HYDERABAD: Despite growth and inflation balance shifting favourably, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) foresees inflationary pressures in the medium and long term. In the present economic environment, there is little room for lowering interest rates, said RBI deputy governor Subir Gokarn. “The central bank has started the process...
Exports Sops May Come Back
NEW DELHI: Two months ago, with fiscal consolidation on his mind, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee scratched out export subsidies from his budget. Today, worried by a widening gap between imports and exports, the government is thinking of bringing back sops for exporters. These subsidies are likely to include discounted...
Mamata’s Skewed Economic Priorities
From Ashis Biswas KOLKATA: For a Chief Minister who always reminds the world of the financial problems of West Bengal, Ms Mamata Banerjee’s priorities in official spending are intriguing, to say the least. Thanks to the populist ways of the erstwhile Left front Government ,which bequeathed a bloated, overpaid,...
North East Girls Are Victims
By Rashmi Saksena We in India proudly parrot the ‘unity in diversity’ line ever so often. Nothing puts it to shame more than the shocking way the young from the north east region are treated in our mega cities. The jury is still out in the April case of...
