The government will soon give the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) its inflation target for five years beginning April 1. The RBI, which is an inflation-targeting central bank, is currently tasked with keeping retail inflation at 4%, with an upper and lower tolerance limit of 2 percentage points. The central bank has indicated that it … Read more
Why did you decide to liberalise the mapping sector? To have the speed, accuracy and scale needed to meet the demands of surveying and mapping today, the PM’s clear vision and direction have been to liberalise and democratise the geospatial sector fully, and not in half-measures. These measures have been long overdue. Doing it in … Read more
Jerenga Pathar is no ordinary farmland. Located on the outskirts of Sivasagar in Upper Assam, it symbolises heroic endurance of Assamese women. It was in this agricultural field in 1680 that Joymoti was tortured to death by Lora Roja (boy king) Sulikpha for refusing to divulge the whereabouts of her exiled husband Gadapani, a prince … Read more
Winter fog affords poor visibility. In this difficult to-read pandemic year, it’s a problem Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman must contend with as she prepares to present her third budget on Monday. In a highly informal economy, where unorganised sector and millions of self-employed dominate the landscape, data is perpetually scarce and statistical clarity poor. This … Read more
India initiated its Covid vaccination drive on Saturday and inoculated 1,91,181 healthcare workers across the country. In the evening, Additional Secretary (Health) Manohar Agnani said not a single post-vaccination hospitalisation was reported. But Delhi reported 51 “minor adverse events” and one “severe case” after vaccination at the time of going to press. Serum Institute of … Read more
Just as the world thought new vaccines would tame the SARS-Cov-2, a more virulent variant has been detected in the UK. According to initial analysis, the variant called VUI 202012/01 — short for Variant Under Investigation, year 2020, month 12, variant 01 — is believed to be 40-70% more infectious. Variations in gene sequences will … Read more
The three states go to the polls next year, along with Assam where the BJP captured power five years ago. Synopsis 2021 will be the year when the BJP will mount massive campaigns to conquer what can be called the hold-out states — West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In October 2015, RSS joint general … Read more
How would you remember 2020? A year that unleashed a pandemic and devastated lives and livelihoods, almost universally, without any discrimination of class, caste or geography. No recent event in living memory has been as secular and democratic in its damaging sweep and impact as Covid-19. Yet, individually, how we record this year in our … Read more
Wedding segment likely to see recovery by October 2021. Synopsis The unpredictable changes in Covid rules are sending many wedding planners into a tizzy. They spend most of their time just updating themselves with the latest guidelines. Their business, meanwhile, has nosedived as clients are not keen on destination weddings or travelling for ceremonies and … Read more
A bit of retail therapy helps. Especially when the times are tough. So, late October, Chhaya Pereira, 43, a Mumbai-based private sector executive, decided to indulge in some retail relief. The biking enthusiast walked into a Honda showroom with her entrepreneur husband and 20-year-old son to check out its newly launched CB350 H’Ness that costs … Read more