business and finance

PM Modi discusses reforms in agriculture sector

The challenges of the Model Agricultural Land Leasing Act, 2016 and how to protect the interest of small and marginal farmers was discussed in detail.




business and finance

GSTN Helpdesk handles over 56,000 taxpayer issues in one month of lockdown

According to data from GSTN, over 19,552 tickets raised by taxpayers were resolved between March 25 and April 24.




business and finance

GST audit guidelines need to be reviewed to include video conferencing: Experts

As per the current goods and services tax (GST) audit guidelines, taxpayers have been broadly categorised into three groups based on their annual turnover -- large, medium and small.




business and finance

Manufacturing activity drops to all-time low on record; PMI shrinks for first time in nearly 3 years

Manufacturing PMI stood at a mere 27.4 in April, which was 51.8 in March.




business and finance

Record sales of fertilisers in lockdown period; govt ensures full availability before kharif sowing

The sale of fertilisers shot up by 45.1 per cent on-year in April 2020.




business and finance

BHEL invites coronavirus-hit global firms to make in India; says, don’t make everything at one place

BHEL has released an Expression of Interest (EOI) inviting global companies to leverage its facilities and capabilities for setting up a manufacturing base in the country.




business and finance

How much economy will lose from coronavirus and what to expect from economic relief package 2.0

The economic impact of the pandemic on India is likely to be around Rs 7-8 trillion with sectors such as trade, textiles, aviation, transport, and MSMEs facing the brunt of the impact.




business and finance

Icra expects GDP to contract by 20 pc in June quarter; 2 pc fall in FY21

The agency's earlier economic forecast was a range, according to which the GDP may either expand by 1 per cent or contract by 1 per cent in 2020-21.




business and finance

Petrol, diesel sales recover as govt eases lockdown restrictions; demand back to normal by June

As most of the small and medium scale industries have started operations from 20th April, the normal consumption level of petrol and diesel is likely to be achieved by July 2020.




business and finance

Your salary hike might not be canceled, most firms across the globe plan to stick to increment budgets

In what could be seen as a silver lining for employees, as many as 50% of the organisations have reported no change in the planned salary hike budgets despite the headwinds that the novel-coronavirus pandemic has brought.




business and finance

Covid crisis: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das meets NBFCs and MFs sector; reviews liquidity situation

Sectoral meetings, held separately in two sessions through video conference, were also attended by Deputy Governors and other senior officers of RBI, the central bank said in a statement.




business and finance

Abhijit Banerjee talks to Rahul Gandhi: Don’t give money to people now, it’s useless; do this instead

While the government reportedly prepares a second economic relief package to mitigate the fallout of coronavirus, handing out direct cash to people amid the ongoing lockdown is not a desired solution.




business and finance

Coronavirus: People in India, Japan most nervous about reopening lockdown

Curiously, the majority of those who say they want their economies to restart before the virus has been contained also report being “very nervous” about leaving home.




business and finance

Taming poverty in post-Covid-19 scenario

“With Covid-19 onslaught, the government has shown tremendous resolve to counter the fallout through socio-economic packages ranging from direct cash transfer to poor and farmers to free food to the needy.”




business and finance

India’s love for gold locked down in coronavirus jail; gold import falls to almost nil in April

Even as India is the second-largest consumer of gold, it imported only 50 kg of gold in April, compared to 110.18 tonnes in the same month a year ago.




business and finance

WTO report says need to bridge digital divide as tech has played key role during COVID-19 crisis

The WTO work programme defines electronic commerce as the production, distribution, marketing, sale or delivery of goods and services by electronic means.




business and finance

GSTN develops functionality for transfer of amount available in electronic cash ledger

In a statement, GSTN said this new functionality on the GST portal is aimed at providing a major relief to taxpayers, especially at the time of the COVID-19 crisis when there is limited access to cash resources.




business and finance

More fiscal stimulus measures necessary in India to fight COVID-19: S&P

The agency said India's fiscal position has been weak for a long time now and is a major factor constraining sovereign credit rating along with the government debt.




business and finance

COVID-19 crisis: Certain economists, academicians for incentive to exporters, delayed GST payment

The recommendations are part of a report titled 'COVID-19: Challenges for the Indian Economy - Trade and Foreign Policy Effects'.




business and finance

Price uniformity: After states hike taxes, Assocham urges Centre to bring petrol, diesel under GST

The central government too had raised excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre each in March to raise an additional Rs 39,000 crore annually. This hike negated the benefit arising from international oil prices slumping to two-decade lows.




business and finance

Petrol, diesel price today: Massive hike in excise duty on fuel by Modi govt. Will it impact you?

Petrol, Diesel Price Today:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government late Tuesday evening increased excise duty on petrol by a record Rs 10 per litre, and on diesel by Rs 13 per litre.




business and finance

Service activities shrink to all-time low; PMI hits near zero

India's service sector recorded largest contraction in business activity and new orders in April.




business and finance

Online education in India extremely scalable: Abhijit Banerjee tells why shift to digital is good

Explaining why online learning has changed the education scenario, the Indian-origin economist said that with classes going online, someone in India can now take a course at MIT.




business and finance

Jobs crisis: Unemployment soars; no work for migrant workers coming back to job market

The spike in the unemployment rate shows that a growing number of job seekers were left disappointed as they could not find jobs and their addition to the labour force merely raised the unemployment rate.




business and finance

Which one of Abhijit Banerjee’s Twitter profiles is real? Nobel laureate economist answers

Several noted personalities such as Ramchandra Guha, Mahua Moitra, among others have now said that the Indian-origin economist does not have any Twitter profile.




business and finance

Learn digital ways soon to make your life easy; social-distancing set to last long even after lockdown

The forced lockdown period is a good opportunity for everyone to learn basics such as making online fund transfers via the payment gateways, pay renewals, and check balances, etc from the comfort of home.




business and finance

PM Garib Kalyan Package report card: Crores of poor, farmers helped under Modi govt scheme

Amid the lockdown, around 39 crore poor people have received financial assistance of Rs 34,800 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP).




business and finance

Coronavirus impact: EU forecasts ‘recession of historic proportions’ this year

The 27-nation EU economy is predicted to contract by 7.5 per cent this year, before growing by about 6 per cent in 2021.




business and finance

Govt allows hand sanitizer exports but not the coronavirus killer

Even as various companies such as Tata Chemicals and NIVEA India have come forward to make hand sanitizers, the government does not want to take a risk by allowing the companies to export the product.




business and finance

Government working on a package of structural reforms for sunrise sectors: Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant

In an interactive online session organised by All India Management Association (AIMA) on post-COVID-19 scenario for Indian economy, he listed healthcare, education, mobility, genomics, AI, 5G network, fintech and manufacturing as high priority areas for rapid and radical structural reforms.




business and finance

Chinese adherence to trade deal report in a week or two, says Donald Trump

"I will be able to report on that at the end of next week," he told reporters at the White House, when asked if China is fulfilling its obligations as detailed out in Phase I of the trade deal signed between the two countries in January.




business and finance

Modi’s petrol, diesel excise duty bazooka has no firepower; won’t save govt’s dwindling tax revenue

The government’s surprise move to increase excise duty and cess on petrol and diesel may not help the exchequer in raising tax revenues by much.




business and finance

Bank of England: UK economy to shrink by most since 1706

It noted that the timeliest indicators of UK demand have stabilised in recent weeks, albeit at very low levels, after unprecedented falls during late March and early April.




business and finance

Labour reforms finally coming to India: Shivraj Chouhan liberates industry, after agri privatisation

In a major announcement today, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan has proclaimed that new registration and license for companies, shops, etc, in MP will be done in one day, compared to 30 days.




business and finance

Helping migrant workers: From clearing pending wages to providing food, govt must step up vigilance

The economic and social fallout of COVID 19 is huge on these migrant workers. The immediate wage loss and uncertainty painted by the gloomy economic prospects further worsens their situation.




business and finance

Yogi Adityanath’s gift to UP farmers: Freed from mandi regime, can now sell fruits, veggies from home

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s UP government has announced to waive off mandi fee for 46 perishable fruits and vegetables.




business and finance

India moves big labour law changes to limit coronavirus impact; UP, MP, Punjab, others make these changes

The latest move by the UP government has exempted businesses from the purview of almost all the labour laws for the next three years.




business and finance

India’s rating outlook reflects rising risk of slower GDP growth, low policy effectiveness: Moody’s

Moody's had, in November 2019, downgraded India's outlook to negative from stable on concerns of lower economic growth.




business and finance

Petrol, diesel excise duty hike: Consumers won’t lose, oil companies won’t lose much

Despite an increase in taxes on petrol and diesel, oil companies are still earning net marketing margins to the extent of Rs 4 per litre, which is above the normal level.




business and finance

Moody’s pegs India’s FY21 GDP growth at 0%, says risk of slower economic growth rising

Moody's said high government debt, weak social and physical infrastructure, and a fragile financial sector face further pressures due to the coronavirus outbreak.




business and finance

Haryana offers reward to move away from water guzzling crops, but is it good enough for farmers?

Haryana has started to take steps towards solving the age-old water problem with the state disincentivizing sowing of water-intensive paddy crops.




business and finance

In Modi’s quest to woo foreign companies into India from China, these products may be flag bearers

In consumer goods, the textile and clothing sector; food products; and crop and animal production have the highest comparative advantage in India.




business and finance

Record excise duty hike on petrol, diesel unlikely to boost economic growth, help bridge fiscal gap, warns report

The record excise duty hike on petrol and diesel will not help the government bridge the fiscal gap as planned, nor will it help boost economic growth as consumption demand will further be crippled, warns a report. Despite crude prices trading at a two decades low, the government had earlier this week hiked excise duty […]




business and finance

Gujarat joins UP, MP, other states in easing labour laws; new projects get major relief 

Gujarat has joined the league of states announcing labour reforms by exempting new projects from provisions of labour laws.




business and finance

Are India’s labour law reforms only a gift for factories, or will workers benefit too?

The new labour reforms will promote ease of doing business in the state. however, it is crucial that companies safeguard the interests and wellbeing of the labourers.




business and finance

Coronavirus pushes govt to increase borrowing by half; here’s how much centre will borrow this year

The government has decided to borrow Rs 12 lakh cr in the current fiscal, compared to Rs 7.8 lakh cr earlier. 




business and finance

Twenty states getting ready for launch of ration card portability from June 1: Ram Vilas Paswan

Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said already intra-state ration card portability is being used, but the transactions are not significant.




business and finance

Covid fallout: US unemployment rate jumps to 14.7 per cent as economy loses 20.5 million jobs

Total non-farm payroll employment fell by 20.5 million in April, and the unemployment rate rose to 14.7 per cent, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.




business and finance

Govt to deploy central teams for 10 states that have witnessed or are witnessing high COVID-19 cases

The teams are being sent to Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.




business and finance

HSBC MF marks down exposure in DHFL to 100%

HSBC Global Asset Management has marked down its exposure from 75% to 100% in its two debt schemes holding the non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL).