If we get our act together..tourism,travel and hotels can be the biggest money spinner for India beating our software export revenues.......
26.7.09
24.7.09
Core sector shoots up 6.5 per cent in June
Riding double-digit growth in cement and coal output, the index of six core infrastructure industries expanded 6.5 per cent in June, the most in 16 months.Buoyed by this robust performance and given that the Core Six have a 27 per cent weight, economists expect positive news on the index of industrial production, which expanded 2.7 per cent in May. The latest core sector numbers are an improvement over the 5.1 per cent growth seen a year earlier, as well as the dismal 2.8 per cent seen in May 2009. In the three months ended June this year, the sector grew 4.8 per cent, against 3.5 per cent in the corresponding period last year.
This better-than-expected showing was aided by the base effect-the sectors had lower output in the year-ago period -- pushing up growth in June. Barring petroleum products and finished carbon steel, absolute figures in the four remaining sectors were lower than those in the previous month. Economists maintain that there are tell-tale signs of recovery in the economyHowever,India's chief statistician, Pronab Sen, maintained that the core sector data is not necessarily indicative of a revival.
This better-than-expected showing was aided by the base effect-the sectors had lower output in the year-ago period -- pushing up growth in June. Barring petroleum products and finished carbon steel, absolute figures in the four remaining sectors were lower than those in the previous month. Economists maintain that there are tell-tale signs of recovery in the economyHowever,India's chief statistician, Pronab Sen, maintained that the core sector data is not necessarily indicative of a revival.
Nilekani checks in
Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani formally assumed charge of his new assignment as the Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and exuded confidence that the Authority would be able to roll out the first set of UID numbers within 12-18 months for the country's more than 1.7 billion population. He said that it would be an enabling infrastructure for other identification schemes and will conform to different applications.
Arguing that identity was important for everyone, especially for the poor, he said UIDAI would provide a database of residents. Nilekani said the UIDAI would not issue biometric cards itself but the database it will create would help government agencies to undertake that task. He said the UID number would help the government in identifying targeted beneficiaries for PDS, extending subsidy on kerosene or for providing new LPG connection. Departments can use the number for issuing cards. He said the key objective of the project was to minimise the need for multiple identity proofs for citizens while availing any government service, or for private needs like opening bank accounts or seeking telephone connections. "We have several options on biometrics like fingerprint, face identification, retina identification, DNA testing etc on devising the database," he said. Nilekani would spend the next few weeks setting up the requisite administrative infrastructure to deal with the project."We will pick up talent from both government and outside," he said.
Arguing that identity was important for everyone, especially for the poor, he said UIDAI would provide a database of residents. Nilekani said the UIDAI would not issue biometric cards itself but the database it will create would help government agencies to undertake that task. He said the UID number would help the government in identifying targeted beneficiaries for PDS, extending subsidy on kerosene or for providing new LPG connection. Departments can use the number for issuing cards. He said the key objective of the project was to minimise the need for multiple identity proofs for citizens while availing any government service, or for private needs like opening bank accounts or seeking telephone connections. "We have several options on biometrics like fingerprint, face identification, retina identification, DNA testing etc on devising the database," he said. Nilekani would spend the next few weeks setting up the requisite administrative infrastructure to deal with the project."We will pick up talent from both government and outside," he said.
23.7.09
Monsoon Tracker mid - July 2009
The monsoon rains posted it's best weekly performance this year in the week ended 15 July. Above normal rainfall over central India, the west coast and Orissa together brought down the monsoon's overall deficit to 27%. The rain deficit was nearly 54% on 30 June. The weather office also forecast widespread rainfall in the next five days in most of India where at least twothirds of the people live in villages and 60% of the farm land depends on the annual rains.
In the week to 15 July, the key soya bean producing regions in central India as well as sugar cane, cotton and groundnut producing areas in western India received normal or excessive rains, data from the weather office showed. But the rice bowl and sugar cane producing hubs of northern India continued to suffer. Rains were inadequate in Uttar Pradesh, the top sugar cane producing state. Haryana and Punjab, where farmers have stepped up sowing of premium rice grades that need lesser water, also received meagre rain. Moreover, key reservoirs, such as the Gobind Sagar in Himachal Pradesh, still stocked only half the water of their 10 year average.
Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said crop sowing had accelerated in the past week as rainfall increased after the worst start to the annual monsoon season in at least 80 years. In rice growing regions, transplantation had increased 76% in the past week.
FDI falls 47% in May
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country declined by about 47% to $2.1 billion in May due to the global recession and the trend is likely to continue for some more months. The government had scaled down the FDI target by $5 billion from $35 billion last fiscal. Separately, the government also said there was no proposal to change the current foreign direct investment policy on retail trade. India currently does not allow FDI in retail trade, except for single brand products where up to 51% FDI is allowed.
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