Unlike private consumption data, GST can provide real-time insights into consumption patterns, economic activity, and state-wise variations

Using GST as consumption proxy

Business Standard

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Key flank of India's growth gambit runs into the knock-on effects of the Russia-Ukraine war

Investments must stand before they can run

The ceiling prices of seven other drugs were revised to include the impact of the 0.00551 per cent increase in drug prices in the National List of Essential Medicines

pharma

A Delhi court has granted permission to Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, an accused in the INX Media case, to travel to Austria and the UK between January 4 and 12, noting that he had never abused the liberty granted to him in the past.
In an order passed on December 17, Special Judge Kaveri Baweja allowed Karti Chidambaram to travel to Vienna (Austria) and the UK to attend events related to his company and meet his daughter.
"It is a matter of record that the applicant had sought permission of the court to travel abroad on numerous earlier occasions and the same was always granted to him even by the Supreme Court, as well as by this court and he never abused the above concession or liberty granted by the court," the judge said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), represented by special public prosecutor NK Matta, opposed Karti Chidambaram's application, saying he might misuse the liberty.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered a case on May 15, 2017, alleging ...

Karti Chidambaram, Karti, Chidambaram

Britain's shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel on Sunday called for China to be placed high up on the list of countries that pose a national security risk to the UK.
The 52-year-old Indian-origin frontline member of the Opposition Conservative Party led by Kemi Badenoch pointed with concern to the recent scandal engulfing an alleged Chinese spy gaining access to Buckingham Palace circles through Prince Andrew  the younger brother of King Charles III.
She attacked the Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Cabinet for prioritising trade ties with China over national security.
It's clearly complicated legislation, but China should always be up there, Priti Patel told The Sunday Times' in an interview when asked if China should be placed on a proposed Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. The list is designed to compel all those working for overseas powers to declare their lobbying to avert any security risks.
We're dealing with an extraordinary regime that for over a decade, qui

Priti Patel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was bestowed with Kuwait's highest honour 'The Order of Mubarak Al Kabeer' on Sunday.
Prime Minister Modi received the honour from Kuwait's Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
The award was given to Prime Minister Modi for strengthening the good relations between the two nations, Kuwait's state-run news agency KUNA reported.
The Order of Mubarak Al Kabeer is a knighthood order of Kuwait.
This is the 20th international honour given to PM Modi by a country, officials said.
The order is awarded to Heads of State and foreign Sovereigns and to members of foreign royal families in sign of friendship.
It has been previously awarded to foreign leaders like Bill Clinton, Prince Charles and George Bush.

PM Modi in Kuwait

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone ran down the touchline in joy while Barcelona players sunk to the turf in dismay.
Super sub Alexander Srloth struck again deep in stoppage time to hand Atletico a 2-1 comeback win at Barcelona and ensure Atletico will spend La Liga's short winter break on top of the table.
Atletico's 12th straight win in all competitions lifted it three points above Barcelona.
Barcelona has only two wins in its last nine games and could find itself third on Sunday if Real Madrid beats Sevilla.
Simeone, coaching Atletico since 2011, celebrated winning at Barcelona for the first time.
We finally did it," Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak said. We are playing well, we started poorly but we knew our chances would come. And in the last minute Srloth came through. Thanks to him we finally won here. He is the striker we needed.
It was a much more impressive performance from Barcelona, which dominated for long periods and took a deserved lead in the 30th minute.
Pedri sta

FC Barcelona

GST Council addresses disaster levy, clarifies tax exemptions, and revises ITC norms, while deferring insurance premium GST cut and key rate rationalisation decisions

GST council meeting

After two weeks of buying, FPIs turned net sellers in Indian equities this week, with a net withdrawal of Rs 976 crore amid a strengthening US dollar and steady rise in US 10-year bond yields, impacting investor sentiment.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) began the week on a positive note, investing Rs 3,126 crore in equities during the first two trading sessions (December 16-20).
However, the trend reversed in the latter half of the week, with FPIs offloading equities worth over Rs 4,102 crore in the subsequent three sessions. This resulted in an overall net outflow of Rs 976 crore during the week, data from National Securities Depository Limited showed.
Despite this short-term reversal, the broader December trend remains positive. FPIs have infused Rs 21,789 crore into Indian equities so far this month, reflecting continued confidence in India's economic growth potential and its resilient markets.
FPIs adopted a cautious approach due to the US Fed meeting and uncertainty about 

Foreign portfolio investor exodus: Financial sector bears the brunt, FPI

Fundraising via IPOs in India hit another landmark as economic growth, favourable market conditions and improvements in the regulatory framework helped companies raise a record Rs 1.6 lakh crore in 2024, while the pipeline for the next year holds out bigger promise.
This exceptional year not only reflected the confidence of issuers but also highlighted investors' eagerness to seize listing-day gains or back companies with strong long-term growth potential.
The year was marked by Hyundai Motor India's historic IPO, the largest in the country's history, which raised Rs 27,870 crore.
Companies of varying market capitalisations -- large, mid, and small -- tapped into the IPO route in 2024, with the average issue size rising significantly from Rs 867 crore in 2023 to over Rs 1,700 crore in 2024.
The exceptional vibrancy of the IPO market was evident, with December alone seeing at least 15 launches.
"Rising retail participation, strong domestic inflows and active participation by FPIs (

ipo market listing share market

The accumulated losses of state public sector enterprises (PSEs) rose from Rs 3,953.70 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 4,778.70 crore in 2022-23, while the profit earned by 13 SPSEs stood at Rs 20.21 crore as on September 30, 2023, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on finances tabled in the Assembly on Saturday.
The net worth of nine out of these 14 PSEs has been completely eroded by losses and their worth was (-) Rs 1,932 crore against an equity investment of Rs 2,085.59 crore, while three PSEs have outstanding government loans amounting Rs 3,132 crore, the report said.
Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board topped the list of loss making enterprises with accumulated losses of Rs 1,809.61 crore, followed by Himachal Pradesh Road Corporation at Rs 1707.12 crore, HP Power Corporation at Rs 552 crore, Himachal Pradesh Power Transmission Corporation at Rs 395.91 crore, HP Financial Corporation at Rs 180.97 crore, State Forest Corporation at Rs 113.04 crore, HPM

The Centre may overshoot the Rs 56,260 crore target for dividend receipts from central public-sector enterprises (CPSEs) set for FY25 and is likely to end up getting around Rs 65,000 crore this financial year, according to a senior government officia

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that states did not agree on bringing aviation turbine fuel under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax.
"States did not feel comfortable. They didn't want the ATF because they saw it as part of the crude petroleum diesel basket, and therefore they said that it alone cannot be taken out, and therefore that continues to remain where it is today," she said while briefing media on the outcome of 55th GST Council meeting here.
Besides, she said, no decision was taken with regard to reduction in GST on insurance premiums as the Group of Ministers (Go) needed more time to study the issue.
Many inputs are awaited including the one from insurance regulator IRDAI, she said.
She further said that the GST Council has also deferred the decision with regard to rate rationalisation as more time is required by the GoM for a comprehensive study.
However, the Council made suggestions with regard to GST rate revision on various items including ...

Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister

The representation of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the central government workforce is as per the prescribed limit, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.
According to the information provided by the ministries/departments, as on January 1, 2024, the number of employees belonging to SCs, STs and Other Backward Classes, OBCs, is 5.47 lakh, 2.82 lakh and 8.55 lakh, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply.
"The representation of SC and ST is as per the prescribed limit of 15% and 7.5% respectively. The representation of OBCs in direct recruitment has also consistently been more than 27% during the last 10 years," he said.
To a query seeking reasons for removal of data on reservation in Union government jobs and positions from the Annual Report (2023-24) of DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training), Singh said obtaining data/information from ministries/ departments is a time-consuming process.
"At the time of finalising 

Jitendra Singh MoS for Development of North Eastern Region ( Independent Charge), PMO addresses during a press conference after a cabinet meeting, at the National Media Center in New Delhi.

Jitendra Singh

DMK leader R S Bharathi stated that if PM Modi truly valued democratic principles, Shah should be temporarily removed from his ministerial position

M K Stalin, Tamil Nadu CM, DMK President

Check out Paisabazaar.com's selected personal loan options from various banks and NBFCs

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Transrail Lighting's initial public offering (IPO) garnered full subscription hours after opening for bidding on Thursday.
The initial share sale got bids for 1,77,77,512 shares against 1,39,16,742 shares on offer, translating into 1.28 times subscription, according to NSE data till 14:30 hours.
Retail individual investors (RIIs) part received 2.07 times subscription while the category for non-institutional investors got subscribed 1.18 times.
Transrail Lighting Ltd has mobilised Rs 246 crore from anchor investors.
The Rs 839-crore IPO has a price band of Rs 410-432 per share.
The company's IPO is a combination of a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 400 crore and an offer for sale of 1.01 crore equity shares by a promoter Ajanma Holdings Pvt Ltd.
At present, Ajanma Holdings holds 83.22 per cent stake in the Mumbai-based company.
At the upper end of the price band, the IPO size has been pegged at Rs 839 crore and a market capitalisation of nearly Rs 5,600 crore.
Proceeds from the f

The UK's central bank is set to keep interest rates on hold later Thursday as inflation has moved further above its target rate, even though the British economy is flatlining at best.
The nine-member Monetary Policy Committee is widely expected to keep the bank's main interest rate unchanged at 4.75 per cent in the wake of figures showing inflation rising to 2.6 per cent, further above the target of 2 per cent.
With price pressures elevated in the crucial services sector, which accounts for around 80 per cent of the UK economy, and wages strong, there are few indications that inflation will get back towards the target anytime soon. As a result, the rate-setting panel, which last cut its key rate in November, is set to take a cautious stance, as lower borrowing rates could stoke inflation.
That's a disappointment for many struggling sectors in the UK economy that would be helped by lower interest rates in an environment of paltry growth  in fact the British economy has contracted for

Bank of England

The Banning of Unregulated Lending Activities Bill calls for the CBI to handle probes in cases spanning multiple states or UTs

The Centre, in collaboration with states, has proposed to classify unregulated lending as a cognizable and non-bailable offence, with penalties including imprisonment of up to 10 years. The finance ministry has invited feedback by February 13 from st

The latest Economic Survey said, India has to find the right balance between importing goods from China and importing capital (FDI) from China

How policymakers are split over attracting Chinese investment into India

The official further noted that this year's Budget consultations are particularly significant due to the political outcomes of recent state elections

Nirmala Sitharaman, Nirmala

Congress calls FIR against Rahul Gandhi over Parliament scuffle a 'badge of honour', alleging BJP's vendetta and diversionary tactics to counter his protest against Amit Shah's Ambedkar remarks

Rahul Gandhi, Rahul, congress leader

The Opposition Congress has doubled down on its demand for Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation, citing his comments on B R Ambedkar

Rahul Gandhi, Rahul, Congress leader, Priyanka Gandhi, Priyanka

Adhish Verma

Adhish Verma

Adhish Verma

Using GST as consumption proxy

Investments must stand before they can run

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NPPA sets retail prices for 65 drugs, revises ceiling for 20 formulations

INX Media case: Court allows Congress MP Karti Chidambaram to travel abroad

UK's shadow minister Priti Patel wants China on national security risk list

PM Modi gets Kuwait's highest honour 'The Order Of Mubarak Al Kabeer'

Atletico Madrid stun Barcelona in stoppage time to snatch La Liga lead

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55th GST Council takes key decisions, defers rate cuts on insurance premium

FPIs pull out Rs 976 crore from Indian equities amid rising dollar

IPO boom: Record Rs 1.6 trn raised in 2024; bigger gains expected in 2025

Losses of Himachal's 30 PSEs rose from Rs 3,953 cr to Rs 4,778 cr: CAG

States not in favour of bringing aviation turbine fuel under GST: FM