Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday described BJP leader L.K. Advani’s 100-day plan to bring back illegal money stashed away in foreign tax havens as a “smokescreen.”
In a hard-hitting reaction to the BJP prime ministerial candidate’s statement issued in Mumbai on Friday, he told PTI: “I am afraid Mr. Advani is doing more harm than good by repeatedly raising this issue, especially when he has been informed of the efforts being made by the government.”
As explained in his letter to Mr. Advani on May 16 last year, the government was already working with the German Central Tax Office to procure the information relating to deposits in LGT Bank in Liechtenstein.
Mr. Chidambaram said the government had made “significant” progress in acquiring information.
“I am not at liberty to disclose the progress made because there are still some procedural formalities required by the German Tax Office,” he said. At the appropriate time, he was sure, the Indian government would be able to release the information obtained.
“I wonder whether he [Advani] is unwittingly alerting those who have deposits abroad to re-arrange their affairs in the next four weeks before a new government is sworn in.”
Mr. Chidambaram said Mr. Advani continued to “mystify” the issues of capital flying out of the country.
He said no one denied that some people had illegally taken money out of the country and kept it in banks and other places protected by strong secrecy laws.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Gold world looks at Akshaya Tritiya with hope
India's benchmark stock index, Sensex, is up; and investors are slowly going back to equity markets from bullion. Because, gold is losing its charm as a safe haven investment. And, gold prices are sliding slowly.
It seems investors have got the hint and they are slowly shifting their money from gold to equity. And, this is happening at a time when Akshaya Tritiya is round the corner — on April 27 — to be precise. That is a day when Indians buy gold and silver as a symbol of good fortunes. And, a year like 2009, which is supposed to be the worst one in the recent past, everybody will need a lot of luck to tide over the global crisis.
So will gold bring luck to people this Akshaya Tritiya? It may. If you take the cues from the market, it is obvious that gold prices are dipping and at a time when sales are bound to shoot up on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. Remember, jewellery sales were downs to unimaginable levels in India and traders had stopped import of the yellow metal in February and March.
In normal circumstances, India is the top importer of the metal. But in February and March India shipped tonnes of gold to Dubai — it came from scarp gold sales.
Now, when the prices are dipping below Rs 14K, there is a chance that this Akshaya Tritiya people will flock to jewellery shops to boost their fortunes.
And, jewelers know that. The obvious hint lies in the rise in imports in April. In the first fortnight of the month around 10 tonnes of gold has been imported to India. Following this, global markets are now looking at Indian demand for further cues.
Silver import has also begun. Though some silver stock was available, more imports were expected on falling prices.
Gold prices came down by 10.80 per cent, or by Rs 285, to Rs 14,045 per 10 gm in the Mumbai spot market this week compared with its previous close. It hit the peak of
Rs 15,745 on February 21. Silver on Friday fell by 10.93 per cent, or Rs 850, to Rs 20,690 a kg from its previous close.
Prices were rising internationally and gold was quoted at a discount (to landed cost) in India. This has led to a halt in import, while premium in overseas markets tempted arbitrageurs to export gold in the form of crude jewellery.
Even as gold is falling in international markets, almost 14 per cent down from $1,000 per ounce in the third week February to $868 on Friday, traders are awaiting demand from India ahead of the festival on April 27.
Globally, investors have booked some profit, resulting in a fall in prices, but investors may re-enter the market soon. Even the traders in Mumbai’s jewellery market expect the demand to re-emerge.
It seems investors have got the hint and they are slowly shifting their money from gold to equity. And, this is happening at a time when Akshaya Tritiya is round the corner — on April 27 — to be precise. That is a day when Indians buy gold and silver as a symbol of good fortunes. And, a year like 2009, which is supposed to be the worst one in the recent past, everybody will need a lot of luck to tide over the global crisis.
So will gold bring luck to people this Akshaya Tritiya? It may. If you take the cues from the market, it is obvious that gold prices are dipping and at a time when sales are bound to shoot up on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. Remember, jewellery sales were downs to unimaginable levels in India and traders had stopped import of the yellow metal in February and March.
In normal circumstances, India is the top importer of the metal. But in February and March India shipped tonnes of gold to Dubai — it came from scarp gold sales.
Now, when the prices are dipping below Rs 14K, there is a chance that this Akshaya Tritiya people will flock to jewellery shops to boost their fortunes.
And, jewelers know that. The obvious hint lies in the rise in imports in April. In the first fortnight of the month around 10 tonnes of gold has been imported to India. Following this, global markets are now looking at Indian demand for further cues.
Silver import has also begun. Though some silver stock was available, more imports were expected on falling prices.
Gold prices came down by 10.80 per cent, or by Rs 285, to Rs 14,045 per 10 gm in the Mumbai spot market this week compared with its previous close. It hit the peak of
Rs 15,745 on February 21. Silver on Friday fell by 10.93 per cent, or Rs 850, to Rs 20,690 a kg from its previous close.
Prices were rising internationally and gold was quoted at a discount (to landed cost) in India. This has led to a halt in import, while premium in overseas markets tempted arbitrageurs to export gold in the form of crude jewellery.
Even as gold is falling in international markets, almost 14 per cent down from $1,000 per ounce in the third week February to $868 on Friday, traders are awaiting demand from India ahead of the festival on April 27.
Globally, investors have booked some profit, resulting in a fall in prices, but investors may re-enter the market soon. Even the traders in Mumbai’s jewellery market expect the demand to re-emerge.
Whizkid 'reveals' fundas of e-mail hacking
He has just appeared in the 10th board examination but Sahil Khan is already being touted as next Bill Gates in the making.
The 15-year old wizkid has come out with his third book titled The Tricks of E-mail Hacking.
Despite the ominous tone of the title, Sahil contended that a hacker is not a cyber criminal.
"A hacker is a good programmer. He is more focused on aspects of cyber security while it is a cracker who breaches security knowing the techniques of hacking," said Sahil speaking on the occasion of his book release function.
Sahil already has two books to his credit -- Crackers and Hackers and Anatomy of a Computer Virus released last year.
Acknowledging the sensitive nature of his field, Sahil said his book is meant to "empower ordinary internet users against the world of cyber crime and not to get people to misuse the technology".
Rekha Vohra Bhalla, a former IAS officer and senior educationists, who was present on the occasion, said, "Kids like Sahil are crucial to the country's security and can help buttress the cyber security framework."
The 15-year old wizkid has come out with his third book titled The Tricks of E-mail Hacking.
Despite the ominous tone of the title, Sahil contended that a hacker is not a cyber criminal.
"A hacker is a good programmer. He is more focused on aspects of cyber security while it is a cracker who breaches security knowing the techniques of hacking," said Sahil speaking on the occasion of his book release function.
Sahil already has two books to his credit -- Crackers and Hackers and Anatomy of a Computer Virus released last year.
Acknowledging the sensitive nature of his field, Sahil said his book is meant to "empower ordinary internet users against the world of cyber crime and not to get people to misuse the technology".
Rekha Vohra Bhalla, a former IAS officer and senior educationists, who was present on the occasion, said, "Kids like Sahil are crucial to the country's security and can help buttress the cyber security framework."
55-year-old gives five patients new lease of life
Five patients suffering from organ failure got the gift of life when the family of a 55-year-old south Mumbai resident donated his organs
recently.
The patient was admitted to Hinduja Hospital, Mahim, on Wednesday with an intracranial bleed and was declared brain dead (irreversible loss of brain function).
"His family donated his liver, two kidneys and eyes, thus letting us help five patients,'' said Dr Gustad Daver, medical director, Hinduja Hospital and vice-president, Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC). In Mumbai, this is the seventh organ donation this year. "There were five donations in January, one in February and one this week, resulting in 14 kidney donations,'' said ZTCC coordinator Sujata Ashtekar.
Although this year, donations are better than those in previous years (16 kidney donations in 2008 and 14 in 2007), a lot more needs to be done given the load of patients with kidney and liver failure in the country, said ZTCC officials. The state government observed an Organ Donation Day on March 28 to promote the concept
recently.
The patient was admitted to Hinduja Hospital, Mahim, on Wednesday with an intracranial bleed and was declared brain dead (irreversible loss of brain function).
"His family donated his liver, two kidneys and eyes, thus letting us help five patients,'' said Dr Gustad Daver, medical director, Hinduja Hospital and vice-president, Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC). In Mumbai, this is the seventh organ donation this year. "There were five donations in January, one in February and one this week, resulting in 14 kidney donations,'' said ZTCC coordinator Sujata Ashtekar.
Although this year, donations are better than those in previous years (16 kidney donations in 2008 and 14 in 2007), a lot more needs to be done given the load of patients with kidney and liver failure in the country, said ZTCC officials. The state government observed an Organ Donation Day on March 28 to promote the concept
We must protect potential Amans
On the grounds that you’ve had politics coming out of your ears this week, I’m not going to write about the election or the campaign. Instead, I’m going to focus on something that will still remain a problem long after this campaign is over, the government has been formed and even after that government has fallen.
And that is ragging.
Contrary to what you will read in articles written by ragging apologists, it is not an international practice. Yes, there is something called hazing at military schools and colleges in the US but it is increasingly rare and strict action is taken when it comes to light. It is completely unknown in Britain or in the rest of Europe. The old public school concept of ragging, which is often used to justify the Indian version, was never anything like our kind of ragging and even that has disappeared from English public schools.
In India, on the other hand, ragging is about sadism, brutality, power and often has a sexual component. Most of us would have read about the sad case of Aman Kachroo who was murdered by students at a medical college in Himachal Pradesh under the pretext of ragging. Aman died of a brain haemorrhage as a consequence of a brutal assault, the last of several attacks that continued till there was no life in his body.
The incident made the headlines and on the week of March 8, a survey showed that Aman was the most talked about person in India on the internet. The usual pious editorials were written. And many of us shed tears over the needless death of a brilliant 19-year-old boy.
But the true tragedy is not that Aman died. There have been other deaths before, many of them even more tragic. Each has been followed by the same editorials and the same internet chatter.
The real tragedy is that other boys will continue to die. And each time we will shed the same tears, ask the police to take action — and then sit back and wait till it happens again. And again. And again.
A month ago I met Prof Raj Kachroo, Aman’s father. He teaches in Tanzania and had been unaware of the kind of trouble his son was in. Aman had complained about the ragging but Prof Kachroo, like many of us, believed that this was just part of the settling in process at college. He regrets deeply that he did not take Aman’s complaints more seriously and pull him out of that murderous medical college.
But unlike many other parents in similar situations, Prof Kachroo is cerebral enough to go beyond emotion. Of course he grieves for his son. And of course he wants justice.
But he knows that the real answer lies in fighting the practice of ragging itself, not in seeking justice only for his son. The way to avenge Aman’s death is not just to punish those who killed him but to protect all the other potential Amans who cower in fear in our colleges and hostels.
As Prof Kachroo says, “Everybody wakes up when a tragedy occurs. And then everybody wants to punish the perpetrators of the crime as harshly as possible. This is what we call justice. But it is not real justice. The real justice is in prevention and monitoring and not in punishing… More students will stop ragging if there are effective preventive and monitoring measures in place.”
He is right. There are a number of Supreme Court judgements that say that ragging is illegal and that heads of institutions are liable for ragging that occurs in their colleges and will personally be charged under the law should any incidents of ragging be reported. But these judgements might as well not exist. Few principals even seem aware that they could go to jail. And the regulatory bodies that are supposed to monitor behaviour in universities neither communicate these judgements nor — truthfully — do they really give a damn about ragging. They are too busy with academic politics to care about the lives of students.
So, is there a way out?
I think there is. First of all, we need to follow a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to ragging. I’m aware of all those tedious arguments about how ragging helps freshers get to know their seniors better. But frankly, if the only way a senior can get to know a new student is by pushing him or her around or making the student do something silly (sing a song outside the girls’ hostel in your underwear etc) then that’s a pretty pathetic comment on the mentality of that educational institution. Surely, there are other ways of getting to know each other that do not involve demonstrations of power.
Secondly, we need to accept that the worst cases of ragging do not occur in big city colleges but crop up in faraway medical colleges and technical institutions. Many of these places are not on the media radar and often the nearest police stations are miles away. Students feel isolated and trapped and, therefore, unable to register any kind of protest against ragging.
In such cases, the onus is on the heads of those institutions to ensure the safety of their students. This sounds fine in theory but the truth is that small town principals rarely bother to do anything. To make sure that they act, we need to make examples of some of them. I would be quite happy to see a few principals thrown into jail when cases of ragging are reported. It’s not enough to punish the perpetrators of ragging: they will pass out of college but the principals will remain.
And finally, I think we should look closely at the suggestion that Prof Kachroo has come up with. He says that there should be an anti-ragging website where every student who is registered at an Indian university should be directed. The site will have a film about ragging and it will be mandatory for all students to register on the site, after which they should sign an affidavit and get a unique identification number like an airline PNR. That way the moment a complaint comes in we will be able to identify both perpetrator and victim.
It should be possible for anyone who is ragged to either complain on the site or to call an anti-ragging helpline. The organisation (a mix of civil society and government) should be able to call the college within minutes of receiving the complaint and demand that action is taken against the perpetrators. If the college principal does not act, he should be sacked or jailed.
The advantage of Prof Kachroo’s suggestions is that they do not require too much government intervention. They use communications technology and involve civil society, not just the babus. They seem to me to be a good starting point for action.
And nobody can doubt that action is needed. Ragging has now become a microcosm of the nastiest aspects of Indian society: sexual humiliation, caste-based bullying, naked sadism and demonstrations of power against the weak and the helpless.
What kind of society are we creating if this is how we allow our children to be treated?
And that is ragging.
Contrary to what you will read in articles written by ragging apologists, it is not an international practice. Yes, there is something called hazing at military schools and colleges in the US but it is increasingly rare and strict action is taken when it comes to light. It is completely unknown in Britain or in the rest of Europe. The old public school concept of ragging, which is often used to justify the Indian version, was never anything like our kind of ragging and even that has disappeared from English public schools.
In India, on the other hand, ragging is about sadism, brutality, power and often has a sexual component. Most of us would have read about the sad case of Aman Kachroo who was murdered by students at a medical college in Himachal Pradesh under the pretext of ragging. Aman died of a brain haemorrhage as a consequence of a brutal assault, the last of several attacks that continued till there was no life in his body.
The incident made the headlines and on the week of March 8, a survey showed that Aman was the most talked about person in India on the internet. The usual pious editorials were written. And many of us shed tears over the needless death of a brilliant 19-year-old boy.
But the true tragedy is not that Aman died. There have been other deaths before, many of them even more tragic. Each has been followed by the same editorials and the same internet chatter.
The real tragedy is that other boys will continue to die. And each time we will shed the same tears, ask the police to take action — and then sit back and wait till it happens again. And again. And again.
A month ago I met Prof Raj Kachroo, Aman’s father. He teaches in Tanzania and had been unaware of the kind of trouble his son was in. Aman had complained about the ragging but Prof Kachroo, like many of us, believed that this was just part of the settling in process at college. He regrets deeply that he did not take Aman’s complaints more seriously and pull him out of that murderous medical college.
But unlike many other parents in similar situations, Prof Kachroo is cerebral enough to go beyond emotion. Of course he grieves for his son. And of course he wants justice.
But he knows that the real answer lies in fighting the practice of ragging itself, not in seeking justice only for his son. The way to avenge Aman’s death is not just to punish those who killed him but to protect all the other potential Amans who cower in fear in our colleges and hostels.
As Prof Kachroo says, “Everybody wakes up when a tragedy occurs. And then everybody wants to punish the perpetrators of the crime as harshly as possible. This is what we call justice. But it is not real justice. The real justice is in prevention and monitoring and not in punishing… More students will stop ragging if there are effective preventive and monitoring measures in place.”
He is right. There are a number of Supreme Court judgements that say that ragging is illegal and that heads of institutions are liable for ragging that occurs in their colleges and will personally be charged under the law should any incidents of ragging be reported. But these judgements might as well not exist. Few principals even seem aware that they could go to jail. And the regulatory bodies that are supposed to monitor behaviour in universities neither communicate these judgements nor — truthfully — do they really give a damn about ragging. They are too busy with academic politics to care about the lives of students.
So, is there a way out?
I think there is. First of all, we need to follow a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to ragging. I’m aware of all those tedious arguments about how ragging helps freshers get to know their seniors better. But frankly, if the only way a senior can get to know a new student is by pushing him or her around or making the student do something silly (sing a song outside the girls’ hostel in your underwear etc) then that’s a pretty pathetic comment on the mentality of that educational institution. Surely, there are other ways of getting to know each other that do not involve demonstrations of power.
Secondly, we need to accept that the worst cases of ragging do not occur in big city colleges but crop up in faraway medical colleges and technical institutions. Many of these places are not on the media radar and often the nearest police stations are miles away. Students feel isolated and trapped and, therefore, unable to register any kind of protest against ragging.
In such cases, the onus is on the heads of those institutions to ensure the safety of their students. This sounds fine in theory but the truth is that small town principals rarely bother to do anything. To make sure that they act, we need to make examples of some of them. I would be quite happy to see a few principals thrown into jail when cases of ragging are reported. It’s not enough to punish the perpetrators of ragging: they will pass out of college but the principals will remain.
And finally, I think we should look closely at the suggestion that Prof Kachroo has come up with. He says that there should be an anti-ragging website where every student who is registered at an Indian university should be directed. The site will have a film about ragging and it will be mandatory for all students to register on the site, after which they should sign an affidavit and get a unique identification number like an airline PNR. That way the moment a complaint comes in we will be able to identify both perpetrator and victim.
It should be possible for anyone who is ragged to either complain on the site or to call an anti-ragging helpline. The organisation (a mix of civil society and government) should be able to call the college within minutes of receiving the complaint and demand that action is taken against the perpetrators. If the college principal does not act, he should be sacked or jailed.
The advantage of Prof Kachroo’s suggestions is that they do not require too much government intervention. They use communications technology and involve civil society, not just the babus. They seem to me to be a good starting point for action.
And nobody can doubt that action is needed. Ragging has now become a microcosm of the nastiest aspects of Indian society: sexual humiliation, caste-based bullying, naked sadism and demonstrations of power against the weak and the helpless.
What kind of society are we creating if this is how we allow our children to be treated?
'Iron man' depends on RSS for decisions: Sonia Gandhi
Stepping up attack on NDA's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani for his weak PM remarks against Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the BJP leader himself "cannot take any decision without the approval of Sangh Parivar".
"The leader (Advani) who has targeted our Prime Minister, can he ever take a decision without the approval of Sangh Parivar? He even had to quit his post once. Then you know who is weak," she said.
"Congress does not run on the instruction or order of anybody. It takes its orders from people," she told an election rally in Pangidi.
Gandhi had on April 15 alleged that the BJP leader was a "slave of the RSS", while dismissing his oft-repeated charge of Manmohan Singh being a weak Prime Minister.
She ridiculed BJP's charges of the UPA being "soft on terror", saying her party has never been weak in fighting terrorists.
Highlighting the achievements of Congress governments since Independence, Gandhi said whether it is industrialisation or modernisation of the country, nationalisation of banks, empowerment of women through Panchayat Raj institutions, it is Congress which "has always taken the lead".
"You are aware of the rich history of Congress in securing independence for the country and building a prosperous nation. You know what is the contribution of Congress in nation-building," she said.
"Congress has undertaken infrastructure development in the country and provided reservations for dalits and tribals and brought green revolution," Sonia said.
"It is the Congress which has ushered in landmark schemes like NREGS, mid-day meal, Rs 72,000 crore loan waiver and technical education by building institutes of repute," she told the rally.
She appealed to the electorate to vote for Congress candidates in the elections "to take forward the development works undertaken by the party governments."
Speaking on the occasion, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy asked people "not to believe" TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu who is "promising to provide everything for free".
The TDP has an alliance with TRS that is opposed to irrigation projects like Pulichintala and Polavaram that are meant for development of the coastal Andhra region and they may not be achieved if the TDP came to power, he charged.
Reddy had earlier kicked up a political row by allegedly stating that people from coastal Andhra and Telangana would have to live like foreigners in Hyderabad if the TDP-led "Grand Alliance came to power".
Reddy, however, clarified that he merely stated the views expressed by TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao who had threatened to close down the educational institutions and businesses run by those from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.
"The leader (Advani) who has targeted our Prime Minister, can he ever take a decision without the approval of Sangh Parivar? He even had to quit his post once. Then you know who is weak," she said.
"Congress does not run on the instruction or order of anybody. It takes its orders from people," she told an election rally in Pangidi.
Gandhi had on April 15 alleged that the BJP leader was a "slave of the RSS", while dismissing his oft-repeated charge of Manmohan Singh being a weak Prime Minister.
She ridiculed BJP's charges of the UPA being "soft on terror", saying her party has never been weak in fighting terrorists.
Highlighting the achievements of Congress governments since Independence, Gandhi said whether it is industrialisation or modernisation of the country, nationalisation of banks, empowerment of women through Panchayat Raj institutions, it is Congress which "has always taken the lead".
"You are aware of the rich history of Congress in securing independence for the country and building a prosperous nation. You know what is the contribution of Congress in nation-building," she said.
"Congress has undertaken infrastructure development in the country and provided reservations for dalits and tribals and brought green revolution," Sonia said.
"It is the Congress which has ushered in landmark schemes like NREGS, mid-day meal, Rs 72,000 crore loan waiver and technical education by building institutes of repute," she told the rally.
She appealed to the electorate to vote for Congress candidates in the elections "to take forward the development works undertaken by the party governments."
Speaking on the occasion, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy asked people "not to believe" TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu who is "promising to provide everything for free".
The TDP has an alliance with TRS that is opposed to irrigation projects like Pulichintala and Polavaram that are meant for development of the coastal Andhra region and they may not be achieved if the TDP came to power, he charged.
Reddy had earlier kicked up a political row by allegedly stating that people from coastal Andhra and Telangana would have to live like foreigners in Hyderabad if the TDP-led "Grand Alliance came to power".
Reddy, however, clarified that he merely stated the views expressed by TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao who had threatened to close down the educational institutions and businesses run by those from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.
Friday, April 17, 2009
India to grow at 7 %, says advisory panel
The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) on Friday said it expected the country’s economy to grow at over seven per cent in the current fiscal as it had already started showing signs of recovery.
“Seven per cent plus is what my 2009-10 overall forecast is... I think it has already started recovering in my own assessment,” PMEAC Chairman Suresh Tendulkar said on the sidelines of a conference on broadband here.
He further said it expected rebound in the economy after September as the worst was over.
“I have been maintaining that the worst is already over, (I expect) good recovery after September,” Mr. Tendulkar added. Asked if the contracting industrial production worried him, he said the revised industrial production numbers were higher than the provisional ones, so it did not bother him much.
Despite three stimulus packages announced by the Government, the Indian economy grew by 5.3 per cent in the third quarter of the last fiscal, its lowest rate in over five years, against a whopping 8.9 per cent a year ago.
In the first nine months of last fiscal, the economy grew by 6.9 per cent. For the whole of 2008-09, the advance estimates of the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) pegged the economic growth at 7.1 per cent, which seems a tough task in the wake of dismal industrial growth numbers. On account of slackening demand hitting Indian trade more than anticipated, PMEAC lowered the country’s growth estimate to 6.5-7 per cent from the earlier estimate of 7.1 per cent for 2008-09.
To boost the economy, the Government came out with three stimulus packages in December, January and in the interim budget, providing incentives to various sectors.
The Reserve Bank also took monetary easing measures by infusing more than Rs. 4 lakh crore since October.
However, industrial growth turned negative in October, December and in January. Besides, exports declined for the fifth consecutive month in February
“Seven per cent plus is what my 2009-10 overall forecast is... I think it has already started recovering in my own assessment,” PMEAC Chairman Suresh Tendulkar said on the sidelines of a conference on broadband here.
He further said it expected rebound in the economy after September as the worst was over.
“I have been maintaining that the worst is already over, (I expect) good recovery after September,” Mr. Tendulkar added. Asked if the contracting industrial production worried him, he said the revised industrial production numbers were higher than the provisional ones, so it did not bother him much.
Despite three stimulus packages announced by the Government, the Indian economy grew by 5.3 per cent in the third quarter of the last fiscal, its lowest rate in over five years, against a whopping 8.9 per cent a year ago.
In the first nine months of last fiscal, the economy grew by 6.9 per cent. For the whole of 2008-09, the advance estimates of the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) pegged the economic growth at 7.1 per cent, which seems a tough task in the wake of dismal industrial growth numbers. On account of slackening demand hitting Indian trade more than anticipated, PMEAC lowered the country’s growth estimate to 6.5-7 per cent from the earlier estimate of 7.1 per cent for 2008-09.
To boost the economy, the Government came out with three stimulus packages in December, January and in the interim budget, providing incentives to various sectors.
The Reserve Bank also took monetary easing measures by infusing more than Rs. 4 lakh crore since October.
However, industrial growth turned negative in October, December and in January. Besides, exports declined for the fifth consecutive month in February
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