PrintFriendly
CORE SECTOR GROWTH HITS SIX-MONTH HIGH
Helped by a robust performance in Coal, Natural Gas and Refinery Segments, eight core sectors grew to a six-month high in September. The eight infrastructure sectors – Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilisers, Steel, Cement and Electricity – had witnessed a growth of 5.3 per cent. The expansion in September is highest since April, when the core sectors’ growth stood at 2.6 per cent. The production of coal, natural gas and refinery products rose by 10.6 per cent, 6.3 per cent and 8.1 per cent, respectively on an annual basis, according to the data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry. Healthy growth in key sectors would have positive implications on the Index of Industrial Production as these eight segments account for about 41 per cent of the total factory output.
— The Times of India
DOING BUSINESS RANKING REPORT IS A SHOT IN THE ARM FOR MODI GOVT
A 30-point jump is significant. Equally important is the fact that India’s improvement isn’t just relative but absolute – on a scale that measures how close a country is to the best-in-class score, India’s score rose from 56.05 to 60.76. The symbolism of that is unlikely to be lost in a country as focused on academic excellence as India: 60.76% is first class; 56.05, second class. Indeed, as the World Bank points out, “India is the only large country to have achieved such a significant shift.” The specifics are equally impressive: On eight of the 10 indicators used for the ranking, India improved its score. On 6 of the 10, it improved its ranking (which means that there are two indicators where other countries have shown more improvement than India).
— The Hindustan Times
SC TELLS GOVERNMENT TO SET UP SPECIAL COURT FOR TAINTED POLITICIANS
In an attempt to put an end to the inordinate delay in prosecuting politicians with criminal record, the Supreme Court asked the Union government on November 01, 2017 to set up special courts to exclusively try lawmakers and decide the cases expeditiously within a year. A bench of justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha asked the government to urgently set up special courts to ensure that trials of lawmakers are completed within a year as laid down by the apex court in 2015. The bench said compliance with the one-year deadline had not been possible because regular courts were overburdened and it was not possible for them to fast-track cases against politicians. In 2014, 1,581 lawmakers were facing prosecution in 1.35 lakh cases, and the number since could have only increased.
— The Pioneer
PM SHARES VIDEO EXPLAINING BENEFITS OF NOTE BAN
Government is poised to celebrate November 8, the anniversary of demonetisation as ‘anti-black money day. Opposition parties including Congress will observe it as ‘black day’. Moreover PM shared a video explaining benefits of note ban and tweeted “I bow to the people of India for steadfastly supporting the several measures taken by the government to eradicate corruption and black money,” said PM Narendra Modi on the first anniversary of demonetisation”.
— The Hindustan Times
NOTE BAN ETHICAL, MORAL DECISION
Describing the November 2016 demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1,000 currency notes as “a watershed moment for the Indian economy”, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Nov 7,2017 said it not only changed the agenda and made corruption difficult but because it was a “morally and ethically correct” step, it was also “politically correct”. Making a powerful defence of the exercise on the eve of one year of demonetisation, Jaitley said reform initiatives taken by the BJP-led government had lifted India’s stature in the global economy, the measures preventing it from being knocked off the global radar and raising it to a position where all international agencies have been eulogising the structural reforms.
— The Indian Express
(Compiled by Pankaj Anand)