Q1 GDP Growth slows

India's economy grew at its slowest pace in five quarters in the April-June period, falling below expectations amid sluggish investment and farm output. That dents the prospects of hitting the 8% mark for the full financial year but the government is hopeful that a bountiful monsoon and increased pay and pensions along with various structural reforms could still take growth closer to that figure.
Gross domestic product (GDP) rose 7.1% in the first quarter, reaffirming India's position as the world's fastest-growing major economy , but sharply lower than 7.9% in the January-March period, data released by the statistics office showed.
A survey of economists had seen June quarter growth at a median 7.4%.
GDP growth in FY16 was 7.6%, ahead of China, while it grew 7.5% in the first quarter last year.
India needs to grow at 8% and more for several years in order to generate jobs, raise incomes and lift millions out of poverty.The latest GDP numbers will put pressure on Urjit Patel, who succeeds Raghuram Rajan as Reserve Bank of India governor next month, over whether to raise interest rates in the October 4 monetary policy announcement amid possible inflationary pressures.
Gross value added (GVA), which is adjusted for subsidies and taxes to arrive at GDP, grew at an improved 7.3%, almost matching 7.4% in the previous quarter, giving the numbers some lustre.
The April-July fiscal deficit was at 73.7% of Budget estimates, only slightly higher than 69.3% at the same time last year.
Some so-called high-speed indicators suggest an improvement in the coming months. The purchasing managers' index for both services and manufacturing inched up in July , and car sales are likely to continue to grow at over 10%.Rajan said earlier this week that a rate cut was possible if inflation slows. Consumer inflation crossed 6% in July , breaching the limits set by the monetary policy framework -4% for the next five years with a 2 percentage point margin on either side.

Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), a measure of investment, fell 3.1% in real terms in the April-June quarter, suggesting private investment sentiment remains weak. Based on current prices, this measure declined 1.1%, suggesting that the government's efforts to revive stalled projects, clean up banks and boost public investment have not yet galvanised private investment.
Consumption is driving the economy in the absence of investment.

FDI statz

SC returns Singur land to farmers

The Supreme Court ordered the return of about 1,000 acres acquired in Singur for a Tata Motors factory to farmers, setting aside the 2006 decision of West Bengal's then Left Front government that had handed over most of the land to the company to make its Nano minicar there.
A bench of Justices V Gopala Gowda and Arun Kumar Mishra termed the acquisition “illegal“ as it was carried out without following procedures, and asked the current state government of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to take back the land from the company and hand it to farmers within 12 weeks. Banerjee, initially as an opposition leader and then as the state's chief minister, has been campaigning to return the land to the farmers.
The farmers who were paid for acquiring their land for the plant can keep the compensation, as they were deprived of their land for ten years. Those who haven't got any so far will have to be compensated by the state government.
Tata Motors said the SC order was over the land acquisition by the state government before it was leased to the company . “Our case relating to Singur Act of 2011 is yet to be heard by the Supreme Court.We will study today's judgement in detail before commenting further on the same,“ said a Tata Motors spokesperson. The Calcutta High Court had earlier upheld the acquisition of the land, prompting the farmers who previously owned the land to move the top court. The Tatas had expressed a desire to retain the land, much after protests by the locals led it to shift the Nano plant to Gujarat's Sanand, saying that it was allotted the land legally and had paid the state for it. The Tatas argued that the law could not be sacrificed for the sake of “furthering political agendas“, suggesting that the opposition to the project was politically motivated. The court, however, ruled in favour of the farmers. “... it is true that rule of law cannot be sacrificed for the sake of furthering political agendas, it is also a well-established position...that a stand taken by the state government can be changed subsequently if there is material... to show that the earlier action was illegal or suffers from legal mala fides or colourable exercise of power,“ Justice Gowda said.
The state must strictly follow the mandatory procedure for taking over land, the court said.
“In this day and age of fast paced development, it is understandable for the state government to want to acquire land to set up industrial units,“ the court said.But the brunt of this “development“ is borne by the weakest sections of the society , more so by poor agricultural workers who have no means of raising a voice against the action of the mighty state government, it said.
Acquisition proceedings were perverse not because the land was acquired for an automobile unit which would generate employment and promote development, but because the acquisition done at the instance of a company was passed off as a public purpose. “This action is grossly perverse and illegal and void ab initio... and cannot be allowed under any circumstance,“ Justice Gowda said.
The two judges differed on the reasons for quashing the land acquisition -Justice Mishra ruled that the acquisition was for a public purpose as it had been brought with public fund. But both agreed to quash the acquisition saying notices weren't issued to the affected, objections not considered with due application of mind and compensation declared without considering the market value of the land.

Partition was a `big mistake' : Kalbe Sadiq

The partition of India was a “big mistake“ made by “our ancestors“, feels All-India Muslim Personal Law Board vice-president Maulana Kalbe Sadiq who wants to “make up“ for it.
“Our ancestors made a big mistake by dividing the country into parts. One of the two parts is now called Pakistan, but we call it Paapistan because of the violence taking place there,“ the Shia cleric said at the first summit of Global Interfaith Wash Alliance (GIWA). “We want to make up for the mistake. We request (the government) that our children should be given education and training so that in place of a Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Abul Kalam Azad and A P J Abdul Kalam are born in India,“ he said.

LIC @60

Petrol rises by Rs 3.4, Diesel Rs 2.7

Oil companies hiked the price of Petrol by Rs.3.38/litre and the price of Diesel by Rs.2.67/litre.

National Herald to be revived

After lying defunct for eight years, National Herald is set to resume publication with Congress announcing a new editor for the newspaper on Wednesday .
Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) will bring out English daily National Herald and Hindi newspaper Navjivan.They will be followed by the revival of Quami Awaz in Urdu, and all of them will have a digital presence too.
Herald has been in the news for the legal case filed by BJP functionary and nominated Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy.
The decision to relaunch the defunct newspaper was taken at an extraordinary general meeting of AJL in Lucknow in January.