Category: India

Sensex plunges more than 500 points, Rupee falls below 72 mark, crash wipes out over Rs 1 lakh crore of investor wealth

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After rallying for two sessions, the BSE benchmark Sensex tumbled over 505 points on Monday to slip below the 38,000-level as worries about global trade war and prevailing rupee crisis dampened investors mood despite the government announcing steps to stem a steep fall in the Indian currency. The broader Nifty too nosedived over 137 points to end below the 11,400-mark. Subdued Asian and European markets due to escalating trade war between the US and China mainly led to a caution on domestic bourses, brokers said. The government Friday announced an…

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8.2% GDP growth, but how is the economy really doing?

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India’s GDP grew 8.2%, the highest in two years, during April-June 2018 (Q1 2018-19). The headline growth numbers, however, do not capture the macroeconomic dynamics currently at play in the Indian economy. While the larger economic picture is not one of immediate crisis, there are factors, especially on the external front, which should be cause for concern. Economic growth: The 8% plus GDP growth is more a result of the base effect due to demonetisation’s disruption than any drastic increase in the level of economic activity. This can be seen…

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Those excluded from Assam citizens list to be deported: Ram Madhav

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BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said Monday people excluded from the final list of Assam-specific National Register of Citizens would be de-franchised and deported to their country, while chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal suggested that the NRC be implemented across India. Addressing a seminar on ‘NRC: Defending the Borders, Securing the Culture’, Sonowal said genuine citizens of India would get adequate opportunities to prove their citizenship and include their names in the final list of the NRC. “The NRC should be implemented in all states. This is a document which can…

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Govt rules out excise duty cut on Petrol, Diesel amid nationwide protests

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Bharat Bandh News Live Updates: The Congress on Monday demanded the Narendra Modi government cut the excise duty and customs duty on petrol and diesel after what it called was a successful Bharat Bandh from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the Centre can’t hide behind the excuse of “global reasons” for the high prices as it had increased taxes substantially in the last few years. He also thanked the 20 other opposition parties for joining the nationwide strike. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had earlier questioned Rahul…

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1 Year, 160 Arrests: In run up to 2019, NSA is the latest weapon against Muslims in UP

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After attempts to instigate communal clashes all over eastern Uttar Pradesh, the Adityanath government is using the draconian law to target Muslims, even as Hindutva activists involved in the violence get off lightly. On March 4, 2018, a year after the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power on the plank of improving law and order in Uttar Pradesh, chief minister Adityanath claimed that not a single incident of communal violence had taken place in the state since he took over. Ten days later, the Union home ministry tabled statistics in…

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Fuel On Fire: Bharat bandh begins with protests, train blockades, Rahul Gandhi joins protest in Delhi

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Congress and 21 political parties are observing a ‘Bharat Bandh’ across the country on Monday to protest the steep rise of petrol and diesel prices, causing hardships to the common man and the poor. Although the parties and some non-BJP state governments had promised not to inconvenience people and ensure supply of essential services, the shutdown is expected to affect normal life in many parts of the country. While Karnataka and Odisha governments declared a holiday owing to the bandh, the Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government said there would be…

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Modi govt ‘Failing On All Fronts’, calls for an alternative narrative: Manmohan Singh

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Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government of failure on all fronts, saying it had led to agrarian distress, economic turmoil and deteriorating relations with neighbouring countries, and called for a national debate on providing an alternative narrative. Speaking at the launch of senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal’s book ‘Shades of Truth–A Journey Derailed’, Singh also charged the government with failure to fulfil a plethora of promises made to the people during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and claimed that national institutions…

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Can’t take back chocolate from kid immediately: Sumitra Mahajan on SC/ST Act

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Amid widespread anger, including calls of ‘Bharat bandh’, against the amendment to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Thursday said all political parties should get together to discuss the issue. A Bharat bandh was called Thursday by some anti-reservation bodies against the amendment to the Act last month. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha had, on August 6 and August 9 respectively, passed the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill to overturn a Supreme Court order concerning certain…

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‘Rat fever’ kills 9 in flood battered Kerala, 37 more suspected

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Following severe flooding, 196 leptospirosis (rat fever) cases and nine deaths have been confirmed in Kerala since August 15. Another 37 suspected deaths are awaiting laboratory confirmation, said the state health minister, KK Shailaja, on Monday. Among the dead are five relief workers. “There is no need of panic but we have to be extra vigilant for at least three weeks. I have instructed health officials to engage with relief workers only after taking doxycyline tablets,” the minister said. Antibiotics are used to treat leptospirosis, which is a bacterial disease…

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Rupee opens at 70.68 lifetime low, falls 18 paise against US dollar

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The rupee continued its downward slide against the US dollar on Thursday, falling to a new record low in opening trade at 70.68 per US dollar. At 9.29 am, the partially convertible rupee was trading 18 paise or 0.27% lower than Wednesday’s close at 70.77 against the US dollar. Intra-day, however, the rupee fell as low as 70.80 against the US dollar at 9.18 am. On Wednesday, the rupee witnessed its second biggest single-day crash since August 13, when the unit crumbled 110 paise or 1.6%. The rupee previously had…

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